By SPA,
Patna, India : Indian authorities, hampered by heavy rain and damaged roads, struggled to provide aid to millions of displaced villagers in the eastern Indian
state of Bihar that has seen the worst flooding in 50 years, reuters reported.
The Kosi river burst a dam in neighbouring Nepal earlier this month, deluging Bihar and drowning village after village in its path as authorities failed to evacuate millions in time.
About 85 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced by floodwaters that have smashed houses and destroyed 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) of farmland.
“Rains are killing our rescue and relief efforts”, Bihar disaster management department minister Nitish Mishra told Reuters on Saturday.
“Our helicopters almost did not fly for most part of the day yesterday since it continued raining heavily till four in the evening,” Mishra said.
Villagers, many of them eating uncooked rice and flour mixed with polluted water to survive, have become increasingly desperate as the swift flowing Kosi river continued to burst embankments and move into new areas.
“I saw a villager tightly clutching a branch and a snake hanging from another branch of tree nearly half submerged in the floodwater while fleeing my village,” said Rajkishore Sharma.
“These are some of the worst floods in generations and they present a huge challenge for governments and humanitarian organisations,” said Daniel Toole, UNICEF’s regional director for South Asia on Friday.