Relief teams struggle to get aid to millions of displaced villagers

Patna: Indian authorities, hampered by heavy rain and damaged roads, were struggling yesterday to get aid to millions of displaced villagers in the eastern state of Bihar, hit by the worst flooding in 50 years.

The Kosi river burst a dam in neighbouring Nepal earlier this month, deluging Bihar and drowning village after village in its path as authorities failed to evacuate millions in time.

About 85 people have been killed and more than two million displaced by floodwaters that have smashed houses and destroyed 100,000 hectares of farmland.

"Rains are killing our rescue and relief efforts," Bihar disaster management department minister Nitish Mishra said.

"Our helicopters were barely able to fly for most of the day yesterday as it continued raining heavily till 4 pm," he said.

On Friday, an overcrowded army boat carrying dozens of flood victims overturned in the swollen river, drowning at least 20 people and leaving 10 unaccounted for.

Some 350,000 people have been evacuated over the past 10 days and thousands are marooned, said Pratyay Amrit, a Bihar disaster management official.

Army officers were putting up sandbags and wire mesh along roads in an attempt to fix embankments and prevent the swift flowing river from inundating new areas, said a witness in the flood-hit district of Saharsa.

The witness also saw more than 1,000 people from nearby villages walking to the city, where they hoped to find food and shelter. Some villagers who chose to stay built temporary bamboo shelters on high ground, eating uncooked rice and flour mixed with polluted water.

"We keep sitting here the whole night and wondering what to do. How will life go on? Will we survive or not?" said Virender Kumar Saga.

Monsoon season

Floods have killed more than 1,000 people in South Asia since the monsoon began in June, mainly in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where 785 people died, and deaths were also reported in Nepal and Bangladesh.

"These are some of the worst floods in generations and they present a huge challenge for governments and humanitarian organisations," said Daniel Toole, Unicef's regional director for South Asia on Friday. He said more than 1,000 villages in 13 districts had been affected by the surging waters, which have caused extensive damage to roads and water and electricity supplies.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, head of the ruling Congress party, flew over devastated areas by helicopter on Thursday and announced a total of $228 million (Dh837 million) in aid.