Darbhanga (Bihar) [India], July 14 (ANI): Villages near the Kamala river in Bihar’s Darbhanga district got submerged due to the ongoing monsoon rains resulting in flood, which forced many families to take shelter elsewhere.
According to the Chief Officer of the Panchayat, Chakko Sada, the floodwaters from the Kamala river that flows through Bihar have entered into the villages of about five panchayats in the eastern block of Kusheshwar in the district.
“A population of 55,000 people have been directly affected and over 100 houses in the village have been submerged,” he said.
Rania Devi, a local villager whose house had been submerged in the river told ANI that the paths to and from the village were blocked due to the floodwaters.
“The floodwaters rose by about 3-4 feet blocking the paths in and out of the villages. We are completely disconnected from the district headquarters. The government has not sent anything to help us out so we are trying to take shelter in nearby dams. Now all that is left to do is pray to Kamala Maiya to soak up the water. If this does not dry up soon, we will be left with nothing,” she said.
According to the district administration, the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Nadeemul Ghaffar Siddiqui inspected the flood-affected areas along with the Circle Officer Triveni Prasad Dwivedi and Block Development Officer Ashok Kumar Chaudhary of the Kusheshwar East Block.
Siddiqui told ANI, “Instructions have been given to provide more government boats free of charge to all those affected by the floods. We went to the villages and filed a report. So far, plastic sheets have been given to people and the process of providing other relief material is also underway.”
A local, Dhruv Kumar told ANI that few bamboo boats were given by the government but it was not enough. “We are now at the mercy of private boats to move around. People have to wait for at least two hours to go anywhere,” he said.
Private boat driver Brahmadev Rai said he had driven the boat for three consecutive months on the government’s orders in last year’s floods. “I was told that it would be paid next year, but this year I visited the Zonal Office several times. The Circle Officer has refused to pay. In such a situation, how would a sailor sail a boat on government orders?” he said. (ANI)
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