Since last week, devastating floods in northern Bihar have displaced thousands of residents, leaving them battling for survival. Among them, women flood victims are grappling with an additional and deeply personal challenge — open defecation. Like many women in flood-hit areas, they are forced to relieve themselves in public, jeopardising their health, safety and dignity.
Those displaced emphasised that the situation that recurs every year and is soon forgotten after the waters recede. “We are forced to defecate in the open and we have to set aside our shame to do so. This is something only women can truly understand,” said Sugiya Devi, who has been living on an embankment since floodwaters submerged her village in Darbhanga district.
Speaking to this reporter through a local activist’s phone, Sugiya shared her frustration, explaining that she and other women had no choice. “We are drinking less water and eating minimal food during the day just to avoid defecating. The authorities gave us plastic sheets and some dry food, but made no provisions for toilets, despite floods being an annual affair. It’s a failure of the government,” she said.
Manjri Devi, another displaced woman, expressed similar distress. “The embankment is crowded and there is no safe place for us to go. People watch as we relieve ourselves,” she said.
Mangli Devi, another flood victim, echoed their concerns, pointing out that while hunger and homelessness are critical issues for all, women face the added embarrassment of having no private space for basic sanitation.
Sugiya, Manjri and Mangli are among the hundreds of women facing this distressing reality. Thousands were displaced after the Kosi river breached its embankment near Bhubhol village in Darbhanga on September 29. Many have taken shelter on embankments and roads in other flood-affected districts, where they are now confronting severe shortages of relief materials.
Mahendar Yadav, an activist in the flood-prone Kosi region, acknowledged that displaced women face greater challenges in these situations. “Some women are forced to wrap themselves in plastic sheets and stand in the water to maintain a semblance of privacy. This has been happening for years,” he said.
Yadav, founder of Kosi Nav Nirman Manch, stressed the need for the government to provide temporary toilets on embankments and roads where displaced people have taken refuge.
Large parts of the region were flooded due to breaches at multiple river embankment points on October 1, following the earlier ones, according to the Water Resources Department. The worst-affected districts include Purnea, Supaul, Saharsa, Darbhanga and East and West Champaran.
A report from the Bihar Disaster Management Department (DMD) on Thursday night stated that 1.6 million people across 479 gram panchayats in 88 blocks of 18 districts have been affected. The affected districts include East Champaran, West Champaran, Araria, Kishanganj, Gopalganj, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Supaul, Madhepura, Muzaffarpur, Purnea, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Saran, Saharsa, Katihar, Khagaria and Samastipur.
About 18,000 people have been evacuated to safer locations by NDRF and SDRF teams, with 14 relief camps housing 6,350 displaced people. The government has set up 451 community kitchens and deployed 11 boat ambulances with mobile medical teams to provide health services in flood-affected areas, according to the DMD report.
Despite a slight receding of floodwaters since October 3, the situation remains grim in north Bihar. The Bagmati and Adhwara rivers continue to flow above the danger mark in Darbhanga, worsening conditions in some areas. The Bagmati is also rising in Sheohar district, creating panic among residents in low-lying areas.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has convened a high-level meeting in the evening of October 4 to review the ongoing relief work in flood-hit districts.