ActionAid Emergency Response to Floods in Bihar, Inda
UPDATE: November 1, 2008
Humanitarian crisis in Bihar continues to unfold two months after the Kosi River smashed through an embankment upstream in Nepal destroying thousands of homes and displacing over 4 million people.
Several thousand flood survivors live in cramped camps without amenities looking at an uncertain future, even as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for a long-term rehabilitation plan.
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Some of the announcements by him are in sync with demands by civil society groups engaged in relief, including ActionAid and Citizens Forum for Floods in Bihar, a state-wide coalition of people and organisations. Among a range of issues highlighted by Singh, providing safe drinking water and sanitation in camps and surveillance of public health threats are listed as immediate priorities.
He has also asked for a long-term plan for rehabilitation of flood affected people, which included immediate support for cultivation of new crops.
Women's needs However, what is missing is any mention of the needs of women and specific measures for their safety. "Young mothers, infants and pregnant women are definitely the most vulnerable and face difficult times ahead," says Lajwanti, an ActionAid partner running Rajpura camp in Supaul district.
ActionAid Response to Flooding in Bihar, India
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Single and vulnerable "I am expecting a baby anytime and need a safe place. I managed to plead for a boat ride along with my two-year old," says 18-year-old Bachri Khatun. She like most women in the Baghala camp was married very young and is in final term of her pregnancy. "I had been drinking flood water while trapped on top of a school building," she adds while trying to cover bamboo sticks with a tarpaulin sheet. Her story is echoed by hundreds of women who are living in these camps.
When the flood water swept villages of Supaul early morning of 19th August, women were left scrambling for help with their children. Bachri herself was trapped for 15 days before managing to reach Lalpatti.
These areas have a large number of single women households as men from the villages get sucked into India's booming urban centers, looking for work.
Loss of home and livelihood "\ My child has no clothes and has been bare bodied ever since we escaped. His body is full of mosquito bite marks," says 25-year-old Nandani Devi, as she holds up her seven-months-old daughter. "I am getting food from the community kitchen. But I am unable to feed my baby," she adds.
"We are poor and everything has been washed away by floodwater," says 19-year-old Shanti, on being asked, what her thoughts are about going back after flood water recedes.
"The water will take sometime to go down and after that we go back poorer than we already are. We work as farm workers and live on daily wages. Now the fields are under water," Bija Mantri.
According to official figures, crops worth 23 million INR have been destroyed in the ongoing floods with property damages of more than $17 million.
Rescue efforts are only beginning in flood-hit Bihar, with thousands of survivors stranded for two weeks. The situation will worsen as the water level rises with fresh rains. The state government has called in the army to step up evacuation efforts.
Latest update Eyewitnesses in relief camps of Basantpur block, Supaul district in Bihar say cases of snakebites have gone up.
"Many villagers are also reporting diarrhea," says Parvinder Singh of ActionAid who spoke to survivors in some of the camps. Water is rising
Hope floats for group of flood survivors
In a place devastated by flood water, a trickle of water is bringing smiles on the faces of women and children traumatized by the fury of a raging river.
Triveniganj, one of the worst affected administrative blocks in the ongoing Bihar floods, is witnessing a subtle but significant community reconstruction that offers hope for rebuilding a future for the flood survivors.
The first manual water pump in the area has come up at the Lalpatti relief camp, supported by ActionAid, housing over 90 families from marooned villages, saw.
“We had to walk through mud and water in the dark to fetch water from a government tap. It is not safe these days,” says 30-year-old Laungi. She is a mother of two and lives in a one of the plastic hut that is lined along a canal embankment.
“The hand pump will make clean water available close to where we stay. Utensils were washed away in the rising water so we do not have any thing to store it,” she adds as the men and young gather around a hole being dug in the middle of the camp.
“Women and children in the camp have been scared of snake bites that are frequent in these areas, as the entire area is covered in water. This will offer them a sense of safety,” adds Ramchandar from a local group, Bihar Gram Vikas Parishad.
“With water borne diseases spreading and sources of water getting contaminated clean drinking water and hygiene will be big issues that would have be addressed,” he stresses, while lending a hand to the community members. “These camps are receiving an increasing number of flood survivors and in the coming days, we need to prepare necessary infrastructure for supporting these families,” he adds.
After heavy rains last night, water level rose by three feet on NH31 around Saharsa district. NH31 is the national highway that connects Delhi and Bihar's capital city Patna. Only large vehicles can traverse the road. Cars, jeeps and other means of transport cannot move.
Relief efforts target unreached flood survivors Armed with rescue boats, food, drugs and tarpaulin sheets, ActionAid and its partners have rushed to camps in the worst affected Supaul district to offer relief to the survivors of flooding, after Kosi River breached its embankment and changed course.
"We are reaching out to survivors in Pratapur, Basantpur and Triveniganj blocks of Supaul district. Our immediate focus is on providing food and medical aid to women and young mothers and setting up shelters for the stranded," says Vinay Ohdar who manages ActionAid's work in Bihar.
Flattened rice, unrefined sugar and rice gruel are being provided to villagers who are taking shelter on highways in Supaul district.
"Families have left their villages for any high ground. They will not be able to go back home for a long time as long as their villages remain waterlogged," says Ohdar.
Critical Needs: "Over 15,000 tarpaulin sheets, 1000 packets of food and 2000 health packets will be distributed in the next few days," he adds.
"The needs are very basic but critical. For instance, even cooking rice can be an ordeal in these conditions. So we are relying on locally used flattened rice as it can be consumed quickly and is safe in these conditions," says Lajwanti from Madan Bharti Jagriti Samaj, a local ActionAid partner in the district.
ActionAid will soon be installing a tube well near the camps in Triveniganj block. Emergency teams will also provide survivors with halogen tablets and jerry cans to store water. Health camps will be organized and medicines will be provided.
In for the Long Haul: According to the team, the situation on the ground is getting worse.
"We anticipate that things will get worse since the broken embankment is widening. It is likely that more villages will be marooned in the coming week. In my opinion the emergency phase will continue for another 30 days," says Ohdar.
"Rescue of the victims who are trapped in huts submerged in water through boats will continue to be a priority as rescue and relief needs to be in tandem", Ohdar adds.
The current floods in Bihar are unprecedented as the areas that have been worst affected this year have not faced floodwaters in over half a century. These villages do not have adequate coping ability and this is expected to severely impact their chances of survival.
Reaching the un-unreachable "In a disaster situation women and children are worst affected and their needs are often ignored especially the needs of lactating, pregnant and menstruating women. Their needs should also be reflected in disaster response and relief assistance" says Unnikrishnan.
"Best practices in emergency response suggest that local communities be engaged and local knowledge be used to identify the most vulnerable and reach the unreached," adds Unnikrishnan.
Read ActionAid's Needs Assessment Report with specific updates from the ground
