How many times do we get an opportunity to see a life in real? The life I am talking about here is a life full struggle, hopes and challenges. Our visit to Bihar had thousands of such stories untold where Selva, Rachit, Nikhil and I have witnessed the true face of the disaster which has forced all of us to think again on what we read and see in news and what the ground realities are.

We went to Saraharsa district which was our base camp and from there we got a change to visit Supaul and Madhepur districts where the condition was beyond imagination. There was a “Nahar” where people had made temporary arrangements for livelihood. Small Bamboo shelters covered with clothes and rugs. Dharmendra ji had an interaction with the villagers and then on their request we marched towards their village which was destroyed because of the Kosi flood. The sight was unbelievable. Helpless people left crying over all that they lost. Broken houses, destructed roads, homeless children and water everywhere. We could imagine what would have been the condition 2 months back. We were shocked to know that this village was totally untouched in terms of getting any assistance/Rahat from the government.

Villagers were taking us one home after the other. And at that moment we realized that more than getting a help they wanted someone to listen to them. One man cried for the loss of his cow. “Yehi mera sab kuch tha sahib. Mainey aapney haaton issey jaaney diya iss dar se ki kahin ye maar na jaye”. Loss is Loss whether it’s of losing your loved ones, loved pet or the only source of income. Stories after stories and there was no end to sorrow.

When we see it in news its looks like just another Natural disaster and slowly from front page the news becomes stale and eventually vanishes but this time it’s not just a disaster which comes and goes it’s a continuous curse which is engulfing everyone there. Villagers have lost everything; their houses, source of income, assets & family. There is no end to the problems.

Let me list down clearly few Key problem areas for a better understanding of problem:

• Disaster Management System: There is no disaster management in place to help or even save people. Imagine 17 people from the same family died waiting for help one month after the flood. What came as a horror to us was there was even 2 months after the disaster people are waiting and crying for help. Majority of Army groups were sent back in one months after the flood wherein almost all the villagers we met informed us that there still many villages which are cut off from the main land and people are still waiting there waiting for help.
• Availability of Doctors is almost null in compared to number of people affected with the flood. 44, 00,000 lakhs people have been affected with this flood. 7, 00,000 lakhs have been rescued by governments and out of them only 3, 00,000 Lakhs have been given shelter. We saw three deaths right in front of us at our 1st visit to Triveniganj. A kid died of diarrhea as his father could not take her to a doctor in the middle of the night. Nikhil a volunteer with us went around for kilometers and could locate one doctor’s camp far far from the reach of people.
• NGOs unending fight: NGOs are fighting with their best and are contributing as much as they in terms of reaching out to villagers in far off interior areas and providing them basic relief material. But it’s not sufficient NGOs reach is very limited. Basic rescue logistics are hard to find. Rakesh ji on of the AID volunteer there had travel 350 Kms to locate 6 villages unattended by anyone. He had to travel and walk in water for hours to reach out to people and according to him thing would have been easier if they had boats and other commute facilities.
• The reach to villages: Villages are cut off from land is more difficult now as the water level has gone down and it’s even difficult to take boats there. Half way is water and then its mud. Where water has less it is difficult to reach there because there is no transportation facility and it is even difficult to go by boat due to less water. And it is also difficult to walk on foot because muddy soil.

• Range of destruction: People have lost almost everything. 1000 villages’ are affected. There is no shelter, no food, no water and no money left. Everything is washed away. Imagine situations where we loose everything in one go. How do we cover it up without any help?

• Diseases: Diseases like Cholera, Diarrhea, fever, Skin diseases can be found anywhere and everywhere. We saw 3 deaths during our one visit toTrivaniganj because of vomiting and Diarrhea. Mosquitoes are another threat which has tripled the chances of malaria and Dengue. Epidemic is almost at their doors due to stagnation of water.