The standing floodwater damaged crops across hectares
Repeated floods have led to thousands of people in north Bihar districts to live amid floodwater since June while their houses and croplands lie damaged.
There is little chance of water receding from these villages along the Nepal border; the India Meteorological Department has predicted more rains in late August and even in September.
The poor, especially, are facing great adversity. Bibi Halima from Kachna in Araria district said she has lost every last belonging to the monsoon deluges. “The swollen Noona river created havoc several times in the last two months. We are struggling to survive.”
The river overflowed and washed away bamboo and mud houses in dozens of villages on its banks. “It is unusual for floodwater to enter villages before water recedes from earlier flooding,” said Md Aslam from Bugladangi village.
He added that they are waiting for the floodwater to subside to start a normal life.
Halima and Aslam were given four-metre plastic sheets by the local administration to cover their heads and are living under a temporary shed at an elevation.
Standing crops across hectares perished after being submerged for weeks, said Virendar Shah from Sitamarhi district.
Around 270,000 hectares of paddy crops were destroyed by floods this year in the eastern state, according to a preliminary assessment by the agriculture department. More than 100,000 hectares of maize and 45,000 hectares of sugarcane were also ruined, said department officials.
“The floodwater cuts us off from the rest of the world. We are helpless,” Shah added.
The apathy of the government amid this crisis has disappointed the local communities, according to Suraj Yadav also from Sitamarhi.
Bihar received unusually high rainfall — 111 per cent above normal — at the very onset of monsoon in June 2021. This led to floods in low-lying areas and disrupted the agricultural schedules. It also pushed the overall precipitation through July 31 about 19 per cent beyond the average (for June and July).
The repeated floods this monsoon claimed 28 lives and affected over 3.5 million others across 16 districts in the state, according to its disaster management department.
As many as 2,404 villages under 93 blocks were affected by floods this year, the department said in an August 22 bulletin. So far, 165,115 people have been evacuated and 71 flood relief camps set up.
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