From: Safar Delhi <safar.delhi@gmail.com>
 

Dear Friends and Colleague

If we do not act now, we will not be eligible for repentance later
The tragedy that has engulfed the lives and livelihoods of uncountable
number of people vastly affects 15 districts of Bihar. The devastation
seems to be a natural calamity; having many man-made impetuses, is
going to stay for a longer period, much beyond the receding of water.
There are scores of media reporting on the causes of the fury clearly
showing the apathetic response of the State and Central Government in
spite of being declared a national calamity.
The Telegraph.co.uk reports that State Chief Engineer E Satyanarayan,
stationed at Birpur near the Nepalese border where the Kosi river
breached its embankments last month, had sent flood management
officials four desperate warnings between August 9 and 16, cautioning
them against the imminent danger. But his messages went unanswered
because the relevant officer was on leave and no one had been assigned
to substitute for him during his absence. Eventually on August 16,
with the situation worsening, the desperate engineer sent telegrams to
11 senior officials associated with floodwater management in the state
capital Patna. But these, too, were ignored in a province infamous for
its indifferent and inefficient civil service. Two days later the
Kosi, also known as "Bihar's sorrow" that flows southward from
neighbouring Nepal, burst its embankment at the point Mr Satyanarayan
had identified as weak. It swiftly changed course and its waters began
wreaking havoc.
To compound the government's embarrassment, army relief columns
standing by for help could also have been deployed long before August
26 as the flood situation steadily deteriorated, inundating nearly
1,600 villages in 15 northern and central Bihar districts.
"Army personnel were waiting in Patna for the government's deployment
order for six days, during which lives were lost and extensive damage
caused," said a senior army officer who declined to be named because
of the sensitivities involved.
These inadequacies compelled hungry and desperate flood victims to
attack government vehicles carrying relief material. They also raided
grain warehouses in search of food and water in the worst affected
Madhepura district 100 miles northeast of Patna. The fittest made off
with whatever they could lay their hands on - sacks of grain or rice,
packets of biscuits and fresh water sachets.
Aid workers warned that hundreds of thousands of flood victims huddled
into makeshift camps in Bihar and in Nepal faced an epidemic outbreak
if help failed to reach them quickly.
According to government figures, some 467,000 marooned people had been
evacuated and over 150,000 were sheltered in 172 relief camps. An
estimated 400,000 people still need to be rescued, officials said.
It is strongly needed to think beyond numbers; how many people died or
how many are drowned. At this moment no number can be projected as the
enormity of the destruction of lives and livelihoods can be assessed
only once the water recedes. The cry of the time is to ensure
successful rescue of all the trapped people, irrespective of their
castes, religion or any other considerations, as there are reports
that 'fittest' compelling the rescue teams for caste-selective
evacuations. The relief works also are marred by discriminatory
outreach.
The rescue and temporary relief will vanish with the receding water
and subsiding media reports. The scars of the fury will remain for
long in the memories and economy of millions of people. There will be
the need of a timely and long-term rehabilitation of the livelihoods
of affected people otherwise mass exodus is going to crush the already
ill-paid workers and labourers in the small and big cities. Another
reign of violation of labour rights and human rights is in offing, if
we fail to act now, effectively.
The Prime Minister said that this is biggest national calamity in
recent times. Bihar and its people experience similar tragedies every
monsoon, loss of lives, destruction of crops, people left homeless,
and every monsoon. But who cares? Do we?
Be it natural disasters like tsunami, or earth quake or any man made
tragedy like Gujrat genocide, people here in Delhi immediately
reacted, organised, made strategies and fought through all possible
means with the challenges. But till now no such broader initiative has
been seen in Delhi in favour of the flood victims. Some of the
concerned individuals and representatives of civil society
organisations met to discuss the various aspects of Bihar Floods on
1st September at Delhi School of Social Works, and the 'Bihar Flood
Relief Network (BFRN) was formed. The need of making the BFRM broader
was felt in the meeting so that more and more organisations and
individuals can come together for this cause. Hence there is a meeting
scheduled for 6th September '08.
We request all those who are concerned with such annual tragedies and
with the present Bihar flood in particular to participate in the
meeting and put forward their stands on the issue, and make a long
term strategy of rehabilitation of the present flood victims in Bihar.

Time and Venue:
6th September 2008, 4 pm
Seminar Room, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS)
29, Rajpur Road, Delhi 54

(CSDS is very close to the Civil Lines metro station)

Looking forward to your support and participation.


Ishteyaque Ahmad +91 9968 329 198
Vinay Singh  +91 9810 361 918
Rakesh Kr. Singh   +91 9811 972 872                 
    

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