Bihar has been hit by a terrible flood. It is one of the worst disasters to strike the country. It is worse than the Tsunami, worse than the Gujarat Earthquake. Several million people have been affected. Entire districts - villages and towns - have been washed away. The number of people dead is not even known.

There are over 6 lakh people living in 200 relief camps. In Saharsa district alone there are 2 Lakh people in 68 relief camps. Similar numbers are living in camps in Madhepura, Supaul, Araria, Purnia and Katihar districts. And many more (those who are better off and have relatives and friends outside) have fled these districts.

This is NOT the usual Bihar flooding. Usually the Kosi river overflows its banks and floods the villages nearby. The people in these villages are prepared for it.

We are calling it “Flood” - because we don’t know what else to call it. But it is not a river overflowing - this is the result of a river suddenly changing course. This year, the Kosi completely changed course - sweeping away several districts. Thousands of villages that never had experienced flooding before are now destroyed - submerged in water. The people living there were completely taken by surprise. Many have died. Others have lost everything - they are without clothes, food, homes, money.

The scale of the disaster is much bigger than the Tsunami. But because it is Bihar and people think this is like the usual annual flooding, there has been very little coverage of the flooding and very little support pouring in for relief. There is an urgent need to inform people about the nature of this disaster and to mobilize support.

For a week now, AID INDIA’s Bihar team has been on the field organizing rescue and relief efforts in the affected districts. So far we have been able to organize some rescue operations and have provided food, milk for children, and medical support for children in several camps. But this is not enough - the scale of the disaster is very large and the need is a lot more. Pratham teams in Bihar have also started working with us and we will now be scaling up the relief efforts significantly.

After the initial shock, the government has been taking a lot of steps to organize rescue and relief operations. The army has rescued people from most of the places. The immediate focus needs to be on food, clothing and health needs of the people in relief camps. Some food is being provided at the camps - but there is a severe shortage and lot of rioting to get at the food. Children are the most affected.

Our immediate focus is on children - there are about 2 lakh children in all the camps. Milk, biscuits and food for children is the first priority now. We are trying to ensure that milk, food and clothes reach all the children in all the relief camps.

Pratham - AID INDIA - Goonj field teams need a lot of support at this time.  We need:

1. Funds: You can donate online at http://www.eurekachild.org/biharflood or you can send a check payable to AID INDIA (mention Bihar Flood Relief) to: AID INDIA
   Post Box No: 4903
   7/4, Besant Road, Royapettah
   Chennai - 600014, India.
   Phone: +91-44-42636125 / 28350403
   Locate office >>
   
   
2. Food: Milk Powder and Biscuits
3. Clothes: Children’s clothes, saris, lungis and blankets
4. Volunteers: To raise awareness and mobilize support, help with collection and packaging. We also need volunteers to work with our relief teams at the field (but for that you must spend at least 10 days in the affected areas and must be very healthy and ready to work in difficult circumstances.)