BIHAR STATE, India — The worst floods to hit India’s northern Bihar state in distant memory have already affected more than 20 million people — roughly equivalent to the population of New York state — and killed hundreds. More rains are on the way.
A deadly cocktail of poverty, state corruption, inept disaster management and climate change is to blame for the disaster. Yet India has the capacity to deal with such large-scale crises, and must do so as a step toward finally integrating vast swaths of its “backward” rural areas that stagnate as urban centers boom. Failure to do so could prove fatal to the country’s long-term growth and stability.
Reporting with a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, frequent World Politics Review contributor Jason Motlagh gives us a closer look at the toll of nature and neglect on India’s most desperate.
Laborers unload 50-kilogram sacks of rice and wheat at a village aid depot.
A cow marooned by flood waters in the Muzaffarpur district.
One of the many flood victims who says the government has failed to provide relief. Her home was damaged and belongings lost.
Villagers returning by boat to their marooned homes with sacks of wheat distributed by the government.
Chaitu Sahani says he and his family have been living on an embankment for weeks after their village was overrun by flood waters, yet food trucks continue to pass them by.
Whether by boat, or on foot, thousands must travel long distances to collect relief from state distribution points across northern Bihar.
See also: “Climate Change, Corruption Contribute to Deadly effects of Northern India Floods“
For more on Motlagh’s reporting in India, see his project page on the Web site of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.