Many feared missing in W Champaran

BETTIAH: Villagers fished out the body of 22-year-old Shesh Nath Sah which was trapped by tree branches in the fields outside his native Sargatia village in West Champaran’s Sikta block. “The village is marooned. Postmortem was not possible. And with no dry land nor wood available for a funeral pyre, family members and villagers consigned the body to water today,” BJP district general secretary Sanjeev Mintu Pandey, who hails from Sargatia, told TOI on Wednesday.
While the administration has confirmed only nine deaths till Tuesday, reports from interiors peg the figure to at least two dozen.Scores are feared missing. On Wednesday alone, reports coming from Chanpatia, Sikta, Yogapatti and Nautan blocks said at least 10 people have died so far. Of these, Triloki Yadav of Bhora village in Sikta block is said to have died of snake bite.
The West Champaran district administration estimates say that around 6.82 lakh people spread over 365 villages have been affected by the fast spreading flood waters across Bhitaha, Thakraha, Madhubani, Piprasi, Bagaha 1 and 2, Yogapatti, Nautan, Bairiya, Ramnagar and Gaunaha blocks. On Wednesday, parts of Majhaulia block adjoining Bettiah too were submerged.
The incessant rain over the past few days, apart from swelling the Gandak river to overflow, has worsened the scenario in the northern blocks of Gaunaha, Narkatiaganj, Sikta and Mainatar, where several streams flowing down the Himalyan range have, unlike brief flash floods of yore, have unleashed a gory tale of devastation.
“We have boats along the Gandak. NDRF and SDRF have been deployed in all the affected areas,” principal secretary in charge of the district, Vivek Kumar Singh, told TOI after taking stock of the relief measures. “We are trying to establish communication with the cut off areas,” he said, adding inclement weather have kept IAF choppers grounded at the Gorakhpur air base. With the sun appearing feebly in the evening, the Air Force made three sorties to drop food packets.
Reports filtering across from few marooned villages said people are thronging houses with gensets to keep their cell phones charged. “ Villagers are pooling in their K-oil quota to keep gensets running, but the mobile connectivity is terrible,” said Sargatia’s Mintu Pandey. A report from Bhikhna Thori on the Nepal border said 20 shops have been swept away by the fury of Pandai.
Even as NDRF swung into action, situation across Champaran continued to be grim. Rail links to the district have been snapped and the water is threatening to even sever the road links.