INDIA:FRANTIC EFFORTS are continuing to rescue tens of thousands of stranded flood victims in India's eastern Bihar state, almost two weeks after the Kosi river burst a dam and swamped hundreds of villages in the region. More than 2.6 million people have been affected by the disaster.
Prataya Amrit, a senior official in charge of relief operations, said between 60,000 and 80,000 people still needed rescuing from the worst affected districts of Sepaul and Madhepura, northeast of the state capital, Patna.
But Mandan Bharti Jagriti Samaj, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), put the numbers marooned by the floods that struck the province on August 18th at about 500,000.
About 100 people died in the floods after the Kosi, swollen by heavy monsoon rain, breached its defences upstream in Nepal and changed course. But several NGOs said thousands of people, especially women and children, were missing and the death toll could reach 2,000.
"My uncle was clinging to a tree and when he tried to get down he was washed away by the current," said Anil Kumar Bhaskar (30), who himself was rescued by a navy boat on Wednesday. "We later found his body downstream, trapped in the reeds," he added.
Meanwhile, the condition of more than 350,000 flood victims lodged in some 250 makeshift, unsanitary relief camps is fast deteriorating. Tensions are running high over the shortage of food and drinking water, leading to violence, while the danger of an epidemic of cholera and diarrhoea looms menacingly.
"We haven't had anything to eat for five days," said Murti Shah, who finally got out of her village in the worst-hit Madhepura district having spent two weeks on a school rooftop eating the family's supplies of grain.
Relief officials warned that with the number of people in camps projected to rise over the coming days, the already poor hygienic conditions would worsen.
"There is a gap between the demand and supply of relief material," Mr Amrit admitted. "We are trying to bridge this gap." And though government relief agencies were working hard, deploying rescue squads from the army, navy and airforce, villagers and aid agencies said much more needed to be done.
"The government must change gear and go on a war-footing to provide relief," the anti-poverty group ActionAid said. There is a pressing need to step up efforts to reach those still stranded, it added.