India battles devastating floods

There seems to be some good news finally from the flood-ravaged Kosi region in Bihar. The outflow of the Kosi's water into the Ganga increased on Sunday. This, in turn, would not allow the river's flood area to expand abruptly even if there is an increased water discharge into the Kosi from Barah Kshetra in Nepal.
"Earlier, the outflow was taking place only from the main course. But now, after flooding the areas under its changed course, the river water is falling into the Ganga at Kursela from a new side as well," said a senior engineer of the water resource development department.

He said the outflow from the main and changed course would not allow the water level in flooded areas to rise high as it would compensate for the water discharge from Nepal. The river maintained a receding trend on the discharge front and came down to 1.65 lakh cusecs at 4pm from 1.72 lakh cusecs at 12 noon on Sunday.

The other piece of good news for the flood-hit is that the fortnight-long wait for rescue operations, which have been agonizingly slow for lakhs of people marooned in the flooded Kosi plains, is finally coming to an end. The armed forces have stepped up the rescue and relief work in Bihar's districts reeling under the devastation.

Ironing out Centre-state coordination glitches, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) got its act together on Sunday. Twenty columns of the Army, each with a 100 personnel and 10 boats, were airdropped to the Chunapur Air Force Base near Purnia. The Navy chipped in with 45 boats, each with two divers. Naval boats have been airlifted from Visakhapatnam, Mumbai and Kochi.

The number of evacuated people on Sunday stood at half a million, of which 1.53 lakh are staying in 172 relief camps. A total of 980 boats, including 104 motorized ones, are being used for evacuation. The number of flood-affected people, however, also rose as the flood waters spread to new areas taking the number of affected villages to 806 on Sunday.

As many as 2.3 mn people were facing the flood fury on Sunday, which again was up by about 40,000 from Saturday's figures. "Fifteen boats and 40 Navy personnel joined the rescue operations," said Pratyaya Amrit, additional commissioner, disaster management department. For now, the department was concentrating on evacuation work in Chhatapur and Triveniganj blocks, Kumarkhand, Muraliganj, Gwalpara, Bihariganj and Udakishunganj in Madhepura district where over1,50,00 people are feared trapped, he said.

Pressure is building on the Indian government to do more for half a million people stranded by devastating floods in the state of Bihar.

A BBC correspondent reports chaotic scenes as soldiers try to reach those cut off and people attempt to scramble from rooftops into rescue boats.

With 1.2 million people homeless, India is struggling to cope with the crisis.

The flood waters are spreading to new areas, and conditions in relief camps are overcrowded and unsanitary.

The floods are known to have killed at least 75 people in Bihar - but the death toll could climb once the situation in remote areas emerges.

Large areas remain totally submerged, with reports suggesting that some villages have simply been washed away by strong currents.

Tens of thousands of people have also been displaced in neighbouring Nepal, where some of those who have lost their homes are camping under plastic sheets.

Disorganisation

Fights have been breaking out among people desperate to board 800 overcrowded army boats - each of which can carry between one and two dozen people - that have been deployed to help the evacuation process.