Dipankar Ghose

Bihar Water Resources Minister and national general secretary of JD(U) Sanjay Kumar Jha speaks to The Indian Express on efforts to deal with the pandemic as well as the flood situation, and the upcoming Assembly elections.

Beginning May, a huge influx of returning migrants, unable to sustain themselves in locked-down cities, walking kilometres, starving in trains, reached the succour of home in Bihar. But with no work, and the lockdown affecting the rural economy as well with falling agricultural prices, they are leaving again.

In Bhagalpur, there is a steeply rising coronavirus curve, complicated by high poverty indicators in its 1,500 villages, thousands of migrants who have returned and are now unemployed, and the spectre of floods.

On July 18, The Indian Express spent time at four main intersections of Bhagalpur to look at the effects of the lockdown and its enforcement.

This year, with the dark cloud of Covid-19 hovering over, the Shravani mela, held in the month of “Saavan” – usually spread over July and August – has been put on hold.

Bhagalpur battling a case spike, lack of manpower and complaints of negligence, the 800-bed hospital in Mayaganj, one of Bihar’s four dedicated Covid facilities covering several eastern districts, is under severe strain.

Nathu Kumar squints into his smartphone, as a teacher at his coaching centre explains medical concepts over a Zoom call. The teacher often mentions a writing board, but on the tiny screen, the board is even tinier.

Bhagalpur, a district with a ‘Smart City’ and more than 1,500 villages, is recording an increasing number of cases, which is straining the hospital system.

A microcosm of Bihar, Bhagalpur is the focus of a month-long series by The Indian Express to understand the pandemic’s effects in small-town India.

On July 6, The Indian Express, as part of a month-long series to understand the effect of Covid-19 and the lockdown in smalltown India, had reported on the plight of children of the Musahari tola, a Mahadalit colony, in Badbilla village.

Over the past month, the district has seen 541 cases, with more than 63 in the past 24 hours. The number of dead has gone up from 1 to 8.

Bihar’s case count has gone up from 10,205 to 13,525 in a week and 100 people have died of Covid-19 so far in the state.

The order came even as the Patna High Court and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took suo motu cognisance of The Indian Express report.

The order states that children in classes 1-5 will get 8 kg of ration and Rs 358 via DBT, calculated on a daily rate of 100g and Rs 4.48 for 80 days.

With the government extending the closure of schools at least till July 31, Keshav Desiraju, former Union Health Secretary, points to “serious questions that must be answered on education and malnutrition”.

With 60,000 returning migrants, and a Covid count touching 500, the district is also the focus of a month-long assignment by The Indian Express to track how lives and livelihoods in smalltown India are coping with the unlockdown.

The Indian Express visited four rural health centres in Bhagalpur in the span of a day. And this is what emerged.

With 63,962 returning migrants, a rising Covid curve, and a town full of aspirations, Bhagalpur is a microcosm of Bihar — where the system is tottering under the weight of numbers and the scale of unemployment.

Bhagalpur is a microcosm of Bihar these days, with returning migrants, a rising Covid graph, and an economy showing signs of deep distress.

Unlock, unlock, unlock, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently defined the way forward to chief ministers. Beginning today, The Indian Express drops anchor in Bhagalpur to track this unlockdown.

It warned the five most affected states — Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh — that going by current trends, they are projected to fall short in terms of ICU beds and ventilators between June and August.

Delhi coronavirus news update: Based on current trends, the presentation made to the states projected that Delhi will see 91,419 cases by June 30.

Speaking at a virtual rally for Odisha from New Delhi, Shah also said that under previous governments the “Delhi durbar” stayed quiet when the country's borders were attacked, but that is no longer the case.

Saying that the Narendra Modi government had announced a package of Rs 1,70,000 crore, Amit Shah asked the Opposition what it had done. Shah was addressing a virtual rally for Odisha from New Delhi.