Randeep Ramesh in Delhi The Guardian Tuesday September 2 2008
A row between aid agencies and Indian authorities has broken out over allegations that flood-stricken areas have received inadequate food supplies and medical equipment to cope with the annual monsoon deluge.
More than 250,000 refugees were in government and relief agency camps in Bihar, northern India, last night, while aid workers reported growing tensions over the lack of emergency supplies. Recent television footage showed people fighting to get places in boats, as soldiers in life jackets attempted to restore order.
The anti-poverty charity ActionAid said "lessons from the past disasters should be kept in mind - a long-term comprehensive response is necessary to deal with relief, recovery and disaster preparedness".
Government officials said the Bihar floods were unprecedented. The Kosi river, which flows from Nepal into India, burst its banks two weeks ago, changing course and flooding surrounding areas. Prataya Amrit, a disaster-management official, said: "This has never happened before. How could we plan for this? Tell me which state can cope with hundreds of thousands of people losing everything."
Relief workers estimated that half of the 1.2 million people affected have been made homeless and that many more have refused to leave their submerged homes. Vinay Ohdar, head of ActionAid in Bihar, said: "People don't want to leave their assets, even in this desperate situation ... People are staying with cattle and with rice stocks. They are afraid of looting."
For those in camps things are expected to get worse. The government said there were about a million flood refugees, and that crowded and unsanitary conditions could trigger an outbreak of diseases such as cholera.
The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said the flood situation was likely to worsen in the next couple of days as the country's three major rivers continued to rise. Flood alerts were sounded yesterday in southern India.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/02/india.flooding
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