Hope floats as water level falls

After 14 days of devastation, there seems to be a slight glimmer of hope for people in the flood-affected districts of north-west Bihar.

After 14 days of devastation, there seems to be a slight glimmer of hope for people in the flood-affected districts of north-west Bihar. Water levels in some villages in Supaul district, which is adjoining Nepal, have been receding for the last two-and-a-half days now, going down by as much as five feet in a few areas.

A senior government official in charge of relief works in Araria district said this was the case in most of the other areas as well. 8220;Water has been receding everywhere in the last two days. But it is still a fluid situation and dependent on the rainfall in the catchment areas of Kosi river in Nepal,8221; Sandeep Poundrik, posted as a Special DM in Araria for the period of floods, told The Indian Express.

According to the Met office in Delhi, the catchment area in Nepal as well as the flood-affected districts in Bihar are unlikely to get heavy rain in the next two days. 8220;The monsoon is still not over. But it hasn8217;t rained much in the catchment area in the last two days and this situation is expected to continue for another 48 hours,8221; IMD Director General Ajit Tyagi told The Indian Express.

Temporary though it may be, the dip in the water levels has not only brought tremendous relief to the affected people but also a lot of optimism that the worst may just be over. 8220;Paani ghat raha hai. Ab badhne ka chance nahi hai. Do-char din me poora paani nikal jayega The water is receding. It won8217;t rise again. In a couple of days, this entire water will go away,8221; said Sanjay Paswan, sitting on a high embankment of a canal near Balua Bazaar village in Supaul district, where a number of residents from neighbouring villages have been living in tents for the past 14 days.

The village, also the native place of former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra and his brother Lalit Narayan Mishra who was Railway Minister in Indira Gandhi8217;s Cabinet of the early 70s, is in direct line of the river8217;s altered course, about 15-20 km from the site of breach in Nepal. Most residents around this area had been evacuated in the first week of flooding. Many like Sanjay took their time to decide whether to vacate their houses and opted to take shelter on the embankment.

Some of the people in the area have felt so encouraged by the receding waters that they are already returning to their homes which were still under 2-3 feet of water. Rescue personnel of National Disaster Response Force said they were receiving requests from people in relief camps to take them back to their houses. The Indian Express team saw at least two families with their belongings make their way to their houses on country-made boats.

But the migration in the opposite direction was still very strong. At least six boats, each with 15-20 people, ferried villagers from embankment to safe points. 8220;I am going to my sister8217;s house. How long can we live in this place without proper food? My husband is also not here. He works in Punjab. Who is going to look after me here?8221; asked Neelam Devi, who along with her seven-year-old son, left the embankment after 14 days. Many others preferred to wait. 8220;Now that the waters are receding, there is no point in going,8221; said 17-year-old Budhia Paswan.

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Surprisingly, many of those who have suffered heavy damages because of the flood 8212; one of the worst in recent times in the country 8212; are optimistic. 8220;We will have a good crop once the water goes away. This year8217;s rice crop was very good, much better than the last few years. But after the floods, we will have better crops and that will continue for at least three to four seasons,8221; Budhia said.