Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are continuing to face the wrath of floods in the region even as rescue operations are putting up a brave front to keep pace with the losses. According to NDRF estimates close to 650,000 people in the two states alone have been displaces and are being taken to the refuge of relief camps while close to 600 people have perished in the floods as stated by official records.
The northern plains of India are severely inundated with flood waters with Rajasthan, UP, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Bengal are trying to cope with the natural disaster. Despite all efforts of rescue, relief and support being provided by both state and central governments, damage control is yet to reach the thousands of villages in the deep hinterlands of the states. In Uttar Pradesh alone a million people have been displaced with schools and colleges remaining shut as both Ganga and Yamuna have swollen beyond their banks and continue to flood all low lying areas. The extent of damage in the holy city of Varanasi has forced people to carry out cremations on the rooftops of old havelis or other high-rise buildings. The present floods crisis is being seen as the worst in the state since the floods of 1978.
“The dead need cremations and we have a duty to give them a proper funeral but the floods are making it impossible to hold the funerals near the ghats so we have had to come up with a makeshift plan. Hopefully we will we able to function normally soon but till then rooftops have become an alternative”, stated Devroop Sharma a resident of Varanasi.
The loss of livestock and crops too have added to the problem with the Madhya Pradesh government going to the desperate extent of giving away free onions at the loss of 100 crores to the state exchequer. With no let up in the rains, the crop was left rotting since transportation was becoming an issue thereby prompting the government to sell them at the price of Re 1 in all fair price shops across the state. Madhya Pradesh has been under the grip of torrential downpour since July this year resulting in most deaths due to flooding across the northern region even though the air force and NDRF teams have rescused close to 4500 people in the area.
Situation remains very grim in Bihar where every day reports of more displaced and dead people is coming in. Close to 300 have died in the state and 5 million have been displaced already. Images of people floating on top of makeshift boats holding on to bare essentials, some even rescuing their priced livestock have been streaming on national news channels. One of the main causes for the floods this year is the grave neglect in de silting the banks of the river prior to monsoon let up. Nitish Kumar, the incumbent Chief Minister has requested assistance from the centre in de silting the river as soon as possible. 24 out of 36 districts in Bihar are inundated by flood -waters and the rescue teams are fighting against time to get as many people shifted to higher grounds as possible.
Despite its dessert terrain even Rajasthan is witnessing a crisis this year with Jaipur, Jodhpur and several southern districts reportedly flooded due to excessive rains. The sudden intensive rainfalls from August 6 to 10 caused the situation to worsen. Vasundhra Raje, chief minister Rajasthan while keeping a close watch on the rescue of the affected people has requested all possible help from the centre as well. Army, airforce and NDRF teams are on track to getting people out of the crisis area even as one district after the other seems to be falling under water. Some of the worst affected districts in the state are: Chittorgarh, Bhilwara, Jhalawar, Pali and Barmer. Most recently NDRF teams had to be rushed to Madhopur district where the Banas River overflowed into nearby villages causing massive damage to life and property.
