As the flood situation in the State continues to worsen and more and more people from north Bihar seek refuge in government relief camps, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has directed officials to subject inmates to coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) test and give them free masks.
At a high-power meeting with State Water Resources Minister and Department officials on Wednesday, Mr. Kumar asked officials to ensure social distancing among evacuees at relief camps and in community kitchens.
Bihar flood situation grim as river water levels rise
Thousands of people have taken shelter on embankments and national highways. Many have pitched tarpaulin tents, under which they live with their family and their cattle.
“We’ve got nothing other than a packet of chura-gur [flattened rice and jaggery] from the government,” one of them told a local TV journalist. The government has been air dropping packets of chura-gur in affected areas. As many as 26 teams of the National and State Disaster Response Force have been pressed into service for relief and rescue operations.
For the flood-affected, COVID-19 norms are among the least of their concerns. “We can’t bother about masks and social distancing when we are struggling for food and livelihood,” said a sexagenarian at Sangrampur, between Piprakothi near Motihari and Gopalganj districts. “Corona has come only now, we’ve been suffering this flood fury for years and the government has done nothing.” Others standing around him, all of them without masks, nod in agreement.
Rising water levels in rivers threaten floods in north Bihar ...
The government currently runs 19 relief camps and 989 community kitchens in 11 flood affected districts of the State. In all, 25,116 people have taken shelter at these camps and 5,71,122 have food daily at the community kitchens.
“The flood situation in northeastern Bihar continues to be grim, though water level in some rivers has not increased in the last 24 hours…but some new areas have been submerged too,” said a State Disaster Management Department official. “As of now 102 blocks and 901 panchayats in northeast Bihar are affected,” he said.
