In Bihar, nature is at its ironic best. The state is split - there is severe drought in one part and now, floods in another. Already, 23 people have died in the Bihar floods and 10 lakh have been displaced.
In north Bihar, when it finally started raining, farmers were a relieved lot. But 10 days later, the rain hasn't stopped and the fear of the drought has been washed away by the fear of floods.
Katihar is the worst affected. The Mahananda river is in spate - its embankment broken, ruin all around. The river flowed into 70 villages and 60,000 people have lost their homes.
Engineers are now inspecting the embankment breach on a boat. Rajeshwar Dayal, Chief Engineer, Public Works Department says: ''We are finding it difficult to source boulders required for the repair work . Also, not many labourers are available. We are trying to plug the breach as soon as we can.''
The villagers are angry. Ranjit Kumar says: ''This is a drama, a waste of government money. All this repair will come undone soon. Why do they build weak embankments in the first place?''
In Madhubani and nearby Darbhanga people have been washed away by flood waters. With them, the paddy and maize in the fields and thousands of homes are a gone.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar says: ''We will survey the losses and compensate all farmers. I have asked my officers to work overtime on this.''
Meanwhile, other parts of the state like Jehanabad, Aurangabad, Gaya, Rohtas, Bhojpur, Buxar, Vaishali, Saran, Sivan Gopalganj, Shekhpura and Nawada are still reeling under drought.link
Showing posts with label Aurangabad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aurangabad. Show all posts
Thursday 27 August 2009
Wednesday 26 August 2009
Man blinded and lynched over land dispute
A daily wage labourer in Bihar was blinded and then beaten to death allegedly by a group of powerful villagers over a land dispute, police said Thursday.
Chhotelal Bind, who was in his 20s, was killed Wednesday in Aurangabad's Lohri village, over a small piece of land, police said.
"The victim was blinded after his eyes were badly damaged and then he was beaten to death. Preliminary investigations suggest that the dispute was over land," a police official said.
Over half a dozen people have been named as accused in the case.
Over 50 cases of lynching have been reported from the state over the last two-and-half months.link
Chhotelal Bind, who was in his 20s, was killed Wednesday in Aurangabad's Lohri village, over a small piece of land, police said.
"The victim was blinded after his eyes were badly damaged and then he was beaten to death. Preliminary investigations suggest that the dispute was over land," a police official said.
Over half a dozen people have been named as accused in the case.
Over 50 cases of lynching have been reported from the state over the last two-and-half months.link
Sunday 16 August 2009
Farmers use guns to guard water in drought-hit Bihar
Bihar has declared 26 of the 38 districts drought-hit and the water crisis in the state in now turning dangerous with farmer guarding their water sources with guns.
After scanty rainfall in many districts, the battle for water is being fought with guns.
"We are farmers. It has not rained properly this year. There is little water in the canals that we use. So we have to protect the water. We carry our agricultural equipments and guns together. When we are in the fields we use our agricultural equipments and when the need for the guns arises, then we use the guns," says Bal Bhushan Sharma, a farmer in Aurangabad which is one of the worst-hit districts.
Sharma is voice of desperation and of little hope. They are no robbers or henchmen but farmers.
With no rains and most canals drying up, water is more precious than gold and the farmers have now chosen to risk their lives to guard it.
They are ready to kill and get killed to protect their water.
"There is very little water. The villagers from neighbouring areas are on the lookout to divert the water in the canals towards their fields. We are trying to stop them. We don't want a fight but if some one diverts the canal water then how will we irrigate our fields," says another farmer Narendra Singh.
Farmers with guns in their hands are just a reflection of how bad the scene is at the ground. For them it's a question of their survival as the scarce rainfall has made the water flowing out of the canal the most precious commodity for them.
Canals irrigate most of central Bihar and the prolonged dry spell means no water for cultivation.
Out of 79.46 lakh hectares of land under cultivation, only 45.67 lakh hectares are irrigated.
"Just 20 per cent of canal system is functioning and the remaining 80 per cent are not functioning. The report of the Planning Commission has also pointed this," claims agricultural and social scientist Dr Ssachidanand Sinha.
With 39 per cent shortfall of rain, only 40 per cent canals have water and their water level is much below the normal.
Life has changed and farmers have little hope of revival. Celebrations have been postponed
More than half of Nand Kishore's 10 acres of land is barren and he struggles to feed his family of 12, to arrange food for cattle.
Even his sister's wedding will now have to wait for another year.
"If we don't have money then how will we survive? We are not able to sleep and keep on think about how we will get our next meal," says Nand Kishore's mother Sushila Devi.
Drought resulting in food crisis has not only affected the kitchens but has upset the entire life of millions of farmers who even otherwise live on a threshold.
Managing one full year without a penny being generated out of farming is a situation they have never faced before.
Foodgrains are cultivated in over 90 per cent of the fertile land in Bihar and little or no rain only adds to the farmers' woes, perhaps leaving the only option of fighting their destiny with guns.
But while farmers fight each other with guns, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad has fired the latest salvo blaming the drought on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, for eating during the recent solar eclipse, an act considered an omen by some.
"Bihar Chief Minister, my younger brother Nitish, was eating bisuits in front of everyone during a solar eclipse. He thinks he can take on the Sun God," says Lalu.
An angry Nitish has called Lalu's superstitions and indulging in petty politics.
"He (Lalu) is desperate enough to use superstition to come into power again," says Nitish.link
After scanty rainfall in many districts, the battle for water is being fought with guns.
"We are farmers. It has not rained properly this year. There is little water in the canals that we use. So we have to protect the water. We carry our agricultural equipments and guns together. When we are in the fields we use our agricultural equipments and when the need for the guns arises, then we use the guns," says Bal Bhushan Sharma, a farmer in Aurangabad which is one of the worst-hit districts.
Sharma is voice of desperation and of little hope. They are no robbers or henchmen but farmers.
With no rains and most canals drying up, water is more precious than gold and the farmers have now chosen to risk their lives to guard it.
They are ready to kill and get killed to protect their water.
"There is very little water. The villagers from neighbouring areas are on the lookout to divert the water in the canals towards their fields. We are trying to stop them. We don't want a fight but if some one diverts the canal water then how will we irrigate our fields," says another farmer Narendra Singh.
Farmers with guns in their hands are just a reflection of how bad the scene is at the ground. For them it's a question of their survival as the scarce rainfall has made the water flowing out of the canal the most precious commodity for them.
Canals irrigate most of central Bihar and the prolonged dry spell means no water for cultivation.
Out of 79.46 lakh hectares of land under cultivation, only 45.67 lakh hectares are irrigated.
"Just 20 per cent of canal system is functioning and the remaining 80 per cent are not functioning. The report of the Planning Commission has also pointed this," claims agricultural and social scientist Dr Ssachidanand Sinha.
With 39 per cent shortfall of rain, only 40 per cent canals have water and their water level is much below the normal.
Life has changed and farmers have little hope of revival. Celebrations have been postponed
More than half of Nand Kishore's 10 acres of land is barren and he struggles to feed his family of 12, to arrange food for cattle.
Even his sister's wedding will now have to wait for another year.
"If we don't have money then how will we survive? We are not able to sleep and keep on think about how we will get our next meal," says Nand Kishore's mother Sushila Devi.
Drought resulting in food crisis has not only affected the kitchens but has upset the entire life of millions of farmers who even otherwise live on a threshold.
Managing one full year without a penny being generated out of farming is a situation they have never faced before.
Foodgrains are cultivated in over 90 per cent of the fertile land in Bihar and little or no rain only adds to the farmers' woes, perhaps leaving the only option of fighting their destiny with guns.
But while farmers fight each other with guns, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad has fired the latest salvo blaming the drought on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, for eating during the recent solar eclipse, an act considered an omen by some.
"Bihar Chief Minister, my younger brother Nitish, was eating bisuits in front of everyone during a solar eclipse. He thinks he can take on the Sun God," says Lalu.
An angry Nitish has called Lalu's superstitions and indulging in petty politics.
"He (Lalu) is desperate enough to use superstition to come into power again," says Nitish.link
Tuesday 14 July 2009
Lack of water hits paddy transplantation in Bihar
Mustafa Khan and Balram Lal, both farmers, scan the skies every day for signs of rain. And most days they are left disappointed. With the state recording a deficit of more than 50 percent in rainfall so far, Khan and Lal, like hundreds of thousands of farmers in Bihar, have one grave worry: how will they transplant paddy seedlings if there is no water in the fields?
“We are losing hope. It’s almost the month of Sawan (July 16-Aug 16) and lack of rains is bound to hit paddy transplantation,” said Lal, who lives in Maoist-hit Aurangabad district, about 100 km from here.
“Every day we pray for heavy rains, it is the only hope for us.”
According to Animesh Chanda, director of the meteorological office here, Bihar received 118.2 mm rainfall against its requirement of 246.5 mm from June 1 to July 7. “It recorded a deficit of 52 percent,” he added.
Chanda said the monsoon was delayed by two weeks in Bihar and rainfall was likely o be below normal.
To make matters worse, farmers said that unlike in the past, there is no water in the canals for irrigation. “We are lucky our village falls under canal irrigation but this year the canals are dry,” Khan said.
A large part of central Bihar is irrigated by water from the Sone river, brought through canals.
Another farmer, Maheshwar Ram, said huge quantities of paddy seedlings transplanted last month have wilted in the scorching heat.
A few farmers have managed to save paddy seeds sown early this month by pumping ground water.
Officials in the agriculture department said less than 10 percent of transplantation of paddy seedlings has been completed.
The state government targeted paddy cultivation on 3.55 million hectares this year. “Till date, transplantation has been reported on about 300,000 hectares,” one official said.
Last month, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced that farmers would be given diesel at subsidised rates under a contingency plan to cope with the drought-like situation. link
“We are losing hope. It’s almost the month of Sawan (July 16-Aug 16) and lack of rains is bound to hit paddy transplantation,” said Lal, who lives in Maoist-hit Aurangabad district, about 100 km from here.
“Every day we pray for heavy rains, it is the only hope for us.”
According to Animesh Chanda, director of the meteorological office here, Bihar received 118.2 mm rainfall against its requirement of 246.5 mm from June 1 to July 7. “It recorded a deficit of 52 percent,” he added.
Chanda said the monsoon was delayed by two weeks in Bihar and rainfall was likely o be below normal.
To make matters worse, farmers said that unlike in the past, there is no water in the canals for irrigation. “We are lucky our village falls under canal irrigation but this year the canals are dry,” Khan said.
A large part of central Bihar is irrigated by water from the Sone river, brought through canals.
Another farmer, Maheshwar Ram, said huge quantities of paddy seedlings transplanted last month have wilted in the scorching heat.
A few farmers have managed to save paddy seeds sown early this month by pumping ground water.
Officials in the agriculture department said less than 10 percent of transplantation of paddy seedlings has been completed.
The state government targeted paddy cultivation on 3.55 million hectares this year. “Till date, transplantation has been reported on about 300,000 hectares,” one official said.
Last month, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced that farmers would be given diesel at subsidised rates under a contingency plan to cope with the drought-like situation. link
Two lynched in Gopalganj and Aurangabad districts over theft, molestation charges
Two men, one accused of molesting a girl and the other a suspected thief, were lynched by mobs in Bihar's Gopalganj and Aurangabad districts, police said on Tuesday.
A man, identified only as Shivnath, was beaten to death on Monday evening in Shahpur village in Gopalganj by family members and neighbours after a girl alleged that he had tried to molest her.
"Shivnath was caught when he was trying to escape after a girl cried that he tried to molest her. Family members and neighbours beat him to death him with bamboo sticks and iron rods," a police official said.
Relatives of the victim lodged a case with the police, naming seven people as the accused. Two people have been arrested, police said.
In the second case, a 25-year-old man was lynched on Monday by a mob near Anugrah Narain Road Station in Aurangabad district on charges of theft. The victim has not been identified by the police.
A case has been lodged against the unidentified people who lynched him, an official said.
In rural Bihar, street "justice" is becoming increasingly common. Over 50 cases of lynching were reported from the State over the last four months.
In one of the worst cases of lynching in Bihar, 10 people from the underprivileged Kueri community were thrashed to death in Vaishali district over an alleged theft in September 2007. Later, a high-level probe found that the men were not thieves as the villagers had suspected. link
A man, identified only as Shivnath, was beaten to death on Monday evening in Shahpur village in Gopalganj by family members and neighbours after a girl alleged that he had tried to molest her.
"Shivnath was caught when he was trying to escape after a girl cried that he tried to molest her. Family members and neighbours beat him to death him with bamboo sticks and iron rods," a police official said.
Relatives of the victim lodged a case with the police, naming seven people as the accused. Two people have been arrested, police said.
In the second case, a 25-year-old man was lynched on Monday by a mob near Anugrah Narain Road Station in Aurangabad district on charges of theft. The victim has not been identified by the police.
A case has been lodged against the unidentified people who lynched him, an official said.
In rural Bihar, street "justice" is becoming increasingly common. Over 50 cases of lynching were reported from the State over the last four months.
In one of the worst cases of lynching in Bihar, 10 people from the underprivileged Kueri community were thrashed to death in Vaishali district over an alleged theft in September 2007. Later, a high-level probe found that the men were not thieves as the villagers had suspected. link
Wednesday 18 February 2009
Naxal-affected districts in Bihar to have buildings for cops
The Bihar government has sanctioned Rs 19.93 crore under police modernisation scheme for construction of buildings for the police in about half-a-dozen naxal-hit distrits.
The government released the amount for constructing buildings to accommodate around 300 police officials posted in naxalite-affected districts of Nawada, Jamui, Jehanabad, Arwal, Aurangabad and Bhabua, official sources said.
The amount was released eight days after the naxalites attacked the Mahuliatand village on February nine in Bihar&aposs Nawada district killing 10 policemen and looting their firearms.
Additional Director General of Police Neelmani told that as per the plan, 184 and 108 lower grade and upper subordinate quarters under the separate family accommodation scheme would be constructed by the Bihar State Police Building Construction Corporation.
It may be recalled that Bihar Police Association (BPA) and Bihar Policemen&aposs Association (BPMA) had drawn the attention of the government on umpteen occasions towards the lack of quarters for the policemen posted in the naxalite affected districts.link
The government released the amount for constructing buildings to accommodate around 300 police officials posted in naxalite-affected districts of Nawada, Jamui, Jehanabad, Arwal, Aurangabad and Bhabua, official sources said.
The amount was released eight days after the naxalites attacked the Mahuliatand village on February nine in Bihar&aposs Nawada district killing 10 policemen and looting their firearms.
Additional Director General of Police Neelmani told that as per the plan, 184 and 108 lower grade and upper subordinate quarters under the separate family accommodation scheme would be constructed by the Bihar State Police Building Construction Corporation.
It may be recalled that Bihar Police Association (BPA) and Bihar Policemen&aposs Association (BPMA) had drawn the attention of the government on umpteen occasions towards the lack of quarters for the policemen posted in the naxalite affected districts.link
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