New Delhi - India's eastern state of Bihar is preparing a
massive rehabilitation and reconstruction programme after floods
inundated more than 100,000 hectares of land, affecting more than 3.5
million people, officials said Friday.
Towns and villages across large swathes of the state have been
flooded for more than a fortnight after the Kosi river breached its
embankment in neighboring Nepal following heavy monsoon rains.
'The evacuation is more or less over,' Pratyay Amrit, Bihar's top
disaster management official, said via telephone, adding that 15,000
to 20,000 people were still marooned in their homes but were refusing
to leave as the floodwaters had marginally receded.
'Army personnel (who are carrying out rescue operations) are
telling us they don't want to leave their homes and we have reports
of at least 500 to 1,000 people leaving relief camps to return to
their villages,' Amrit said. This development was 'alarming' as the
monsoon season had not yet ended and the Kosi river could rise again,
he said.
The administration was airdropping pamphlets along with food
packets, requesting the remaining villagers to leave their homes and
also aired similar messages over the radio.
Amrit said the administration faced a Herculean task in terms of
relief and rehabilitation with more than half a million families
suffering losses of property, crops and cattle, many of them being
homeless.
He said at least 300,000 people were being housed in 260 to 270
relief camps which had adequate provisions for food and medical
teams. 'Initial problems regarding sanitation have been sorted out,'
he added. 'We are constantly monitoring the camps to prevent
outbreaks of any diseases.'
The Bihar government has set up a high-level committee headed by
the development commissioner to draw up plans for rehabilitation and
reconstruction, Amrit said. 'The first meeting was held on Thursday
and the panel also met a World Bank team,' he said.
'This is not a normal flood,' Amrit said. 'We will be able to
assess the true extent of the damage only after October 15, after the
waters have receded,' he added. 'Historical data shows that the
Kosi's discharge stabilizes around that time.'
The bodies of 80 people who died due to the floods have been
recovered, the official said, dismissing reports that the toll could
be much higher. Some non-governmental organizations said the figure
could be higher as at least 2,000 people were missing.
Meanwhile, the flood situation was grim in north-eastern Assam
state, with the river Bramhaputra and its tributaries breaching more
embankments, IANS news agency reported.
The death toll in the current floods in Assam stands at 16 and
about 1.2 million people have been affected.
A total of 1,844 people have died this year in 15 of India's 29
states in floods brought on by the annual monsoon rains that last
from June to September.
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