Indian floods leave millions homeless in Bihar

Updated September 1, 2008 20:31:21

Millions of people in India are struggling to cope with some of the worst flooding in half a century. Rescue and relief operations
Presenter: Tom Fayle
Speakers: Jason Smith, Asia Pacific zone of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

SMITH: Well, across Bihar India and southern Nepal, as a result of a bank imbreachment of what was the Septa Koshi River in Nepal on the 18th August, a river diverted from its typical course and at this point appears to have impacted more than 2.6 million people throughout these two nations who are ill-equipped as I'm sure your listeners can imagine to deal with flooding this extreme and this extraordinary. So the Red Cross / Red Crescent Movement, and many other humanitarian actors, are busy trying to save the lives and provide safe shelter to individuals who are stuck between what was the original course of the Koshi River and its new course to its east, and the circumstances are extraordinarily challenging.

Normally you would have bridgeways and roadways that would allow humanitarian actors access. Those roadways simply do not exist at present, so you've got humanitarian volunteers with the Indian Red Cross trying to be as creative as possible with boats and other vehicles, getting as close as possible to where the humanitarian need exists.

FAYLE: And what about the problems that have been confronting the relief effort?

SMITH: Well logistically, clearly, one of the major challenges has been access. Under normal circumstances when floods occur, there is some point of access. You're able to use a roadway, a bridgeway, something of those kinds. But with a new channel having been created in this river, it's very difficult to get aid supplies and shelter supplies into villages that need support most, and as a result you have got government officials, military officials, Red Cross / Red Crescent leadership and officials doing everything they can to bring supplies in via boat any other means they can find.

FAYLE: And, of course, you have got a crisis occurring on two sides of an international border?

SMITH: We have teams of trained volunteers and disaster relief professionals in Nepal, in India, who are close to impacted neighbourhoods to begin with, meaning that they were there before these floodwaters began to rise, they will be there for a long time to come, but the needs are significant. And in Nepal, in particular, there has been an appeal launched for international financial assistance. India by comparison has a very strong national society and is capable at least in the interim of funding its own relief costs at this point. But the humanitarian needs are significant, really in both Nepal and India.

FAYLE: So what's needed most at the moment - money?

SMITH: I think that financial support clearly for the Red Cross in Nepal through the International Federation can have a tremendous impact. I think what's also important just for individuals to pay attention, at the government and policy setting levels to the fact that storm activity, flood activity, seems to be on the rise, and activities and actions that governments can take to prepare for these kinds of emergencies before they happen can go a tremendous way in saving lives as we move forward.