Death stalks flood victims

SHEORAJPUR/LAUKARIA: From Dusadhpatti in the Sheorajpur village in the Nautan block to the Musahar Toli in the Laukaria village of the Bairiya block, the furious Gandak has pushed hundreds of villagers, mostly Dalits, to seek shelter on the Champaran embankment.
Here the Dalits drowning in misery are raining expletives at the government.
For them, the government is as mute and far away as the gods.They do not invoke the benevolence of the latter in these malevolent times. They are, instead, angry with the former. Not a prayer but choicest abuses lace the language of their lips quivering in anger.
For them, the government is asleep even as they stay awake all night battling the elements. “The rising water threatens to wash us away from one side, the laughter of hyenas torment us from the other side all night,� said Shanti Devi from Laukaria’s Musahar Toli.
Many other insomniac women joined her in a chorus, “Nothing over our head, no money to buy food or even oil to light lamps to scare away the hyenas, we keep awake to guard our children.�
At Sheorajpur’s Dusadhpatti, Sunari (literally, the beautiful one) Devi lamented the ugly reality of floods besieging her community.� Our homesteads submerged, we are helpless,� She said, adding, “We are labourers. There is no work. Neither is there any food.�
Early on Thursday morning, the retired Ring bandh breached at Sheorajpur. Water gushed in a torrent, dividing the village into two parts. Said Sakina Khatoon, while removing her meagre belongings from her flooded hutment, “Last year, we shifted to the bandh. The river is chasing us from here too.�
The government was conspicuous by its absence from the midst of the flood hit. “There is no none to even hear our woes,� said Kunti Devi at Laukaria.
Added Shanti Devi, “If one of us do not go out to vote, leaders evaluate the loss to be worth Rs 1 lakh.� She asked, “Where are they now? Why are they not coming to evaluate our loss, the value of our lives?�
At Asha Ram Pathakhauti, Ramayan Sharma, a carpenter, was busy repairing Somari Mukhiya’s boat while Lakshmi Mukhiya rowed in his boat rescuing marooned villagers and cattle. Rued both the boatmen, “Last year, we slogged our guts out rescuing people. The government is yet to pay us our dues.�
At Sheorajpur, villagers kept awake fighting to plug the imminent breach on Wednesday night. The Babus slept blissfully away in their faraway bungalows.
The mukhiya, Mehmood Alam, and zila parishad vice chairman, Mobin Ahmad, pooled in funds, rigged a generator, commandeered tractors and labourers. The villagers fought valiantly. But the Gandak won the battle.