By IANS,
Patna : The flood-hit victims of Bihar Monday blocked roads and railway lines to protest against the inadequate assistance provided by the state government to them.
Thousands of victims from the districts of Saharsa, Madhepura and Supaul disrupted normal life at different places. They were reportedly led by the Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPI-M).
“Thousands of flood victims have blocked national highways in Saharsa and railways in Supaul. This has badly hit normal life,” official sources said.
More than three million people were rendered homeless in Bihar when the Kosi river breached its bank upstream in Nepal and changed course Aug 18. Large tracts of land were flooded, forcing people to flee their homes.
They were then forced to live along the roads under the open sky without food, clothes and drinking water or in the relief camps set up by the state government. Thousands of people have been affected in the worst floods of Bihar in the last 50 years.
CPI-M had last week announced an indefinite strike in the three districts to draw the government’s attention to the plight of the flood victims. Adequate relief and a permanent solution to the problem of recurring floods were demanded.
“Indefinite kisan curfew began in Saharsa, Madhepura and Supaul districts. It will continue till the government provides adequate relief to flood victims,” State CPI-M Secretary Vijay Kant Thakur said.
He said 25 percent of flood victims were yet to receive the first instalment of relief material.