Our Bureau/

Though at many places floods have started showing receding tendency in Kosi and Seemanchal regions  but it’s  aftermath left trails of devastations and human miseries.

People particularly in lowlands and remote hinterlands now started facing the worst when government machineries virtually laying defunct. This time the intensity of the floods was so high that it caused losses maximum to public properties. Communications both on railways and roads are completely destroyed resulting immense hardship to local people.

Lack of road and rail connectivity directly has its adverse impact on the rural population which still are marooned in the remote villages in the two regions. “We are spending sleepless nights with empty stomach, expecting helicopters but yet not seen any government boats with relief,” was the common complain of the submerged villages in districts like Purnea, Kathiar, Kisanganj or Araria. Floods victims taken shelters on the Kosi embankment in the districts like Saharsa or Supoul have no complain virtually except non availability of foods. “We have become habituated as such floods became a recurring event in our fates, having been taken shelter on this embankment since my birth, we lost all hopes,” painfully told Bisun Sada, a villager near Maheshi in Saharsa.

Time will be taken for repairing works to restore communication.

Similarly, Binod Yadav, a native of Vinodpur in Katihar started visiting Katihar railway station daily just to know when train services would resume here. His father a serious heart patient,  was scheduled to undergone heart operation at Kolkata in the first week of August. “Keeping in view the blockade in his heart, the doctor advised him to operate immediately on last July but since we didn’t have money at that time, it was deferred to August. Now we are expecting the worst as the delay of the operation might have caused fatal for him,” he wept silently.

“Besides snapping of road and rail connectivity we don’t have the opportunity for charging of our mobile sets, causing immense difficulties,” was the common complain everywhere in rural areas where electric supply has completely disrupted. In many places most mobile networks are not functioning properly, causing much difficulties to the people.

Majority of the village roads in Kursakanta, Araria and Forbesganj blocks of Araria, Baisi, Baisa, Amour and Dagarua blocks in Purnia, Barsoi, Azamanagar, Hasanganj Pranpur blocks in Katihar and Bahadurganj, Teragachh and Kishanganj blocks of Kishanganj district are badly damaged.

Many non governmental organizations and social bodies find it very difficult to venture in floods effected areas especially in remote areas mainly due to disruption of road links. “We are ready with relief items but since we don’t have any communication, we are virtually defunct,” said the members of Malda (Bengal) based NGO near Baisi block in Purnea.

A waterlogged village in Seemanchal.

The  flood changes the face of  Seemanchal districts,  also damaged many important roads including  Dighi bridge on NH-31, near Baisi, causing north east states to be cut off for a week and thousands of trucks to remain stranded between Gulabbagh and Baisi. This also caused scarcity of essential commodities in markets at the town and semi urban areas in the region.

However, movement of traffic on NH-31 was restored on Thursday, much to the relief of all concerned.

Trains going to Northeast stand cancelled after flood waters overtopped railway tracks at many places besides damages at several places also.

“We are now waiting for government’s response to address our plights, if not we will die,” painfully said Sudama Mandal, 75 year-old farmer at Kadwa in Katihar.