Fresh floods hit Gujarat; Bihar still grim

Okha/Ahmedabad/Darbhanga, Aug 8: Floods continued to ravage several parts of the country, with heavy rains inundating large parts of Gujarat on Wednesday.

Incessant rains spread havoc in Saurashtra region, submerging several districts, destroying homes and leaving people with little or no access to food and healthcare.

"The situation is very bad, our houses are flooded with water. Our work has been disrupted. We are facing problems with food and water. No one from the government has come to check on us," said Ghani, a flood victim.

Several places were inaccessible as road and rail communications had been snapped.

State's Revenue Minister Kaushik Patel said the government has alerted districts officials as more rain is forecast.

"It has been forecast that Gujarat would receive heavy rains for the next three days. In order to tackle this, the State Government has alerted all the district headquarters in Saurashtra region, particularly the south Gujarat districts," he said.

Meanwhile, in Bihar's Dharbanga district, flood victims have taken shelter at the railway station, converting trains into their home.

"Our home has been destroyed in the floods, so we are taking shelter in these bogies. Here our families are safer. There are nearly 400 people taking shelter here... All our homes have been destroyed and we are now waiting for some government compensation," said Vinod Mahto, a flood victim.

Dharbanga Station Master said that the flood-affected people have come here without taking permission from the concerned authorities.

"No one has given them permission (to stay at the railway station). They have come all on their own. And, for the protection of the railway property, we have deployed personnel from the RPF (Railway Police Force) and the GRP (Government Railway Police) so that nothing is stolen and to prevent any untoward incident from taking place," said Vijay Kumar Shah, Station Master.

The latest bout of monsoon flooding, which began about three weeks ago, is said to be the worst in living memory in parts of Bihar. It has affected about 30 million people across India, 10 million of them in Bihar alone.

Besides several thousands marooned, at least 487 people have drowned, died from snakebites, hunger or water-borne diseases. Many have even been crushed to death or electrocuted in the devastating monsoon floods.

ANI
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