Shouldering care. Photo: Girish C. Mishra.
Basantpur block of Supaul district was the first area hit by the flood. The death toll in Supaul District alone, runs into hudreds of thousands as numerous villages have been fully wiped out from the map of the Supaul District, along the new course of the River Kosi. Thousands still wait to be rescued.
“People are still living in fear. More heavy rains are expected and rehabilitation may be delayed. HelpAge is currently focusing on organizing relief camps to provide the much needed medical aid,” says Mathew Cherian, HelpAge India, Chief Executive.
Kaushalya Devi, 65, of Naraiya village, Supaul district, does not know where her husband is, whether he is even alive or not. It has been 10 days since she had a bath, simply as there was no clean water available, nor did she have an extra sari to wear. Nearly everything had been washed away. It was a normal afternoon when her husband, son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren were resting peacefully, when they heard of the Kosi embankment being breached. They could not believe it. Within an hour the entire village was flooded.
Water levels rose to 8 to 10 ft, submerging virtually everything. For three days they were stuck on the rooftop of their small hamlet wondering how long they would survive. The worst, there was no drinking water as the water around them was infected & dirty, with floating corpses of cattle and human bodies and alive with snakes and insects. All around her she saw people scrambling up to their rooftops facing a similar fate.
When relief finally did come, they had to pay a heavy price. Some villagers managed to organize a boat, but the boatman demanded Rs. 8,000 to get them to safety to Budhipula camp. Her husband, Kali Yadav, decided to stay back in the village to look after whatever little was left of their belongings. They then shifted 10 kms far from Budhipula camp and finally reached Saharsa by train and took shelter in a relief camp there.
Kaushalya soon was developed acute stomach pain and on the advice of HelpAge’s Mobile Medicare unit staff stationed there, went to Patna for hospital treatment. Her son took her to Patna, only to be told to provide a BPL (below poverty line) card in order to get free medication from the Patna hospital.
He admitted his mother in the hospital but there was no diagnosis. Without the BPL card, doctors wanted money for diagnosis and medicines. He finally managed to pay Rs.150 for the diagnosis, but as luck would have it Kaushalya Devi was diagnosed with liver cancer. She was told by the doctors to return to her village and leave herself to fate.
There are many more like Kaushalya who need help. In disasters it is difficult to segregate relief as all are needy. The most vulnerable are the elderly. Many elderly in Bihar have been reduced to begging in order to sustain themselves. Lack of mobility to run for safety or the lack of strength to fight for relief material makes them an extremely vulnerable section of society, HelpAge reports.
Source: HelpAge India, New Delhi
September 9, 2008
INDIA: Elderly flood victims face their toughest days, reports HelpAge India
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NEW DELHI (HelpAge India), September 9, 2008:
In a rapid assessment of the flood situation in Supaul district, Bihar, one of the worst affected districts lying on the Indo-Nepal border, some startling facts came to fore, reports HelpAge.
Near the Thermal Power Station, in Basantpur Block of Supaul district, some 30,000 flood-affected families have taken shelter in open fields and on the banks of the river canal. The number is rising as more and more rescued families are joining the crowd daily. There is hardly any concrete aid in the form of services coming in. In the absence of basic survival amenities, the population is migrating to neighboring Nepal.
Shouldering care. Photo: Girish C. Mishra.
Basantpur block of Supaul district was the first area hit by the flood. The death toll in Supaul District alone, runs into hudreds of thousands as numerous villages have been fully wiped out from the map of the Supaul District, along the new course of the River Kosi. Thousands still wait to be rescued.
“People are still living in fear. More heavy rains are expected and rehabilitation may be delayed. HelpAge is currently focusing on organizing relief camps to provide the much needed medical aid,” says Mathew Cherian, HelpAge India, Chief Executive.
Kaushalya Devi, 65, of Naraiya village, Supaul district, does not know where her husband is, whether he is even alive or not. It has been 10 days since she had a bath, simply as there was no clean water available, nor did she have an extra sari to wear. Nearly everything had been washed away. It was a normal afternoon when her husband, son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren were resting peacefully, when they heard of the Kosi embankment being breached. They could not believe it. Within an hour the entire village was flooded.
Water levels rose to 8 to 10 ft, submerging virtually everything. For three days they were stuck on the rooftop of their small hamlet wondering how long they would survive. The worst, there was no drinking water as the water around them was infected & dirty, with floating corpses of cattle and human bodies and alive with snakes and insects. All around her she saw people scrambling up to their rooftops facing a similar fate.
When relief finally did come, they had to pay a heavy price. Some villagers managed to organize a boat, but the boatman demanded Rs. 8,000 to get them to safety to Budhipula camp. Her husband, Kali Yadav, decided to stay back in the village to look after whatever little was left of their belongings. They then shifted 10 kms far from Budhipula camp and finally reached Saharsa by train and took shelter in a relief camp there.
Kaushalya soon was developed acute stomach pain and on the advice of HelpAge’s Mobile Medicare unit staff stationed there, went to Patna for hospital treatment. Her son took her to Patna, only to be told to provide a BPL (below poverty line) card in order to get free medication from the Patna hospital.
He admitted his mother in the hospital but there was no diagnosis. Without the BPL card, doctors wanted money for diagnosis and medicines. He finally managed to pay Rs.150 for the diagnosis, but as luck would have it Kaushalya Devi was diagnosed with liver cancer. She was told by the doctors to return to her village and leave herself to fate.
There are many more like Kaushalya who need help. In disasters it is difficult to segregate relief as all are needy. The most vulnerable are the elderly. Many elderly in Bihar have been reduced to begging in order to sustain themselves. Lack of mobility to run for safety or the lack of strength to fight for relief material makes them an extremely vulnerable section of society, HelpAge reports.
Source: HelpAge India, New Delhi
Shouldering care. Photo: Girish C. Mishra.
Basantpur block of Supaul district was the first area hit by the flood. The death toll in Supaul District alone, runs into hudreds of thousands as numerous villages have been fully wiped out from the map of the Supaul District, along the new course of the River Kosi. Thousands still wait to be rescued.
“People are still living in fear. More heavy rains are expected and rehabilitation may be delayed. HelpAge is currently focusing on organizing relief camps to provide the much needed medical aid,” says Mathew Cherian, HelpAge India, Chief Executive.
Kaushalya Devi, 65, of Naraiya village, Supaul district, does not know where her husband is, whether he is even alive or not. It has been 10 days since she had a bath, simply as there was no clean water available, nor did she have an extra sari to wear. Nearly everything had been washed away. It was a normal afternoon when her husband, son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren were resting peacefully, when they heard of the Kosi embankment being breached. They could not believe it. Within an hour the entire village was flooded.
Water levels rose to 8 to 10 ft, submerging virtually everything. For three days they were stuck on the rooftop of their small hamlet wondering how long they would survive. The worst, there was no drinking water as the water around them was infected & dirty, with floating corpses of cattle and human bodies and alive with snakes and insects. All around her she saw people scrambling up to their rooftops facing a similar fate.
When relief finally did come, they had to pay a heavy price. Some villagers managed to organize a boat, but the boatman demanded Rs. 8,000 to get them to safety to Budhipula camp. Her husband, Kali Yadav, decided to stay back in the village to look after whatever little was left of their belongings. They then shifted 10 kms far from Budhipula camp and finally reached Saharsa by train and took shelter in a relief camp there.
Kaushalya soon was developed acute stomach pain and on the advice of HelpAge’s Mobile Medicare unit staff stationed there, went to Patna for hospital treatment. Her son took her to Patna, only to be told to provide a BPL (below poverty line) card in order to get free medication from the Patna hospital.
He admitted his mother in the hospital but there was no diagnosis. Without the BPL card, doctors wanted money for diagnosis and medicines. He finally managed to pay Rs.150 for the diagnosis, but as luck would have it Kaushalya Devi was diagnosed with liver cancer. She was told by the doctors to return to her village and leave herself to fate.
There are many more like Kaushalya who need help. In disasters it is difficult to segregate relief as all are needy. The most vulnerable are the elderly. Many elderly in Bihar have been reduced to begging in order to sustain themselves. Lack of mobility to run for safety or the lack of strength to fight for relief material makes them an extremely vulnerable section of society, HelpAge reports.
Source: HelpAge India, New Delhi
