10th September, Bhaliya, Bowanipur

While the doctors were busy with their medical service on another part of the city we went visiting more in accessible places, so that we could reach out to more and more needy people. So along with a local press reporter as our guide we left Bowanipur, and went by boat to Bhaliya, as the road to that village had been cut off by floods. After a 20 minute boat journey where we saw villages, fields, orchards, schools and roads submerged fully or partially we reached the relief camp being held at the local middle school housing about 900 people.

On the boat we practically felt at size and just looked in disbelief at the huge and voluminous quantity of water all around us and the people on the boat explained how the river had charted a new course for itself and it had become upto 20 feet deep in many places and this at a place 100 kms away from the actual breach of the barrage in Nepal. Surprisingly there were many fishes in the river, but the fishermen were not keen on fishing them as they felt that the fishes had eaten human flesh from the dead bodies and so were no longer good.

This village on the outskirts of Purnia district was on of those which had been affected in Purnia. Having a  population of  around 5500, of whom many had left to distant towns and cities to escape the flood, it had at present around 2500 people. On landing there the villagers took us around the village which was still about two feet deep in water. Wherever the water had receded, the land had become slushy and emitted bad odour. Rotting material, slushy soil, insects, rats, vermin, all these would be responsible for the outbreak of epidemics once the water had receded.

How much ever we read, hear or see it in the news, it will be near impossible to understand the gravity of the situation of the affected people until we are knee deep in dirty waters with them. Some of them were despondent about their bleak and uncertain future, as they had lost their life savings, their live crops, cattle, etc.

The villagers were happy on hearing that we had come from Kerala about 2500kms away, to serve them. We fixed up with them to have a medical camp there the next day.

– Sadasiva Chaitanya