More aid to flood affected Bihar
03/09/2008
After heavy monsoon rains, SOS Children has started providing food to 600 starving people at two camps established at Purnia, one of the places hardest hit by the flooding in the Bihar state of India.
The camps can cater to the needs of up to 2,000 people, providing shelter and sanitary facilities. "I was marooned for five days with my children and family without food. A rescue team took us here and we had a good lunch. I don't know when I will be able to return to my home," said Ramsharan Yadava, 55. Many people in the camps have similar stories to tell.
"We are providing cooked food, like hot rice and pulses with green vegetables," says an SOS staff member. "We have ready-made packs comprising of flat rice, sugar, salt, candle, biscuits, cloths, match boxes, soap and baby food" he adds.
SOS Children's relief camps are being organized in school buildings with active support by the local administration who have assigned 20 government employees to help manage the camps. A team of doctors isit the camps reglarly to provide medicines to victims suffering from fever and diarrhoea.
Government officials say that more than 275,000 flood victims have taken shelter at 250 relief camps in the Supaul, Madhepura, Saharsa and Araria districts. The swelling numbers of refugees in unhygienic camps, combined with weather conditions, pose a higher risk of outbreak of diseases according to a warning issued by the UN.
According to government estimates, about 90,000 people might be still marooned and in dire need of immediate rescue. The official death toll is 90, but actual figures will only emerge after the water has receded.
Relevant Countries: India.