Millions affected by flooding in India and Nepal

The worst hit area is the eastern Indian state of Bihar where hundreds of villages were inundated when a two-kilometre breach occurred in a badly-maintained embankment on the Kosi River, adjoining the India-Nepal border, on August 19. The Kosi, which is a major tributary of the Ganges River, carved out a new course and deluged huge areas of land.

Mahesh Puri, a UNICEF emergency specialist, told the Washington Post: The river changed its course and inundated areas where people have not seen floods in 50 years. They were completely unprepared. What is worse is that many of these people will never be able to go back to their homes because the river has changed course. Now there are streams where there were none before.

Indian officials told the media that work to fix the dam and try to divert the river back to its normal course could not begin until the end of the rainy season in October and might take until early next year.

UN agencies estimated that three million people have been affected by the disaster. Half a million have fled to dry ground, while hundreds of thousands are still awaiting rescue. In neighbouring Nepal, at least 1,000 homes have been destroyed and around 60,000 people displaced.

Bihar is one of Indias poorest and most populous states. Some 37 million of its population of 90 million live below the poverty line. Annual per capita income is just $US160. An estimated 1,000 villages in 16 districts in Bihar have been submerged by the floodwaters. Madhepura, Saharsa, Supaul, Araria and Katihar, which border eastern Nepal, are the most badly affected districts.

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