City firemen to help Bihar flood victims

Two teams of 22 skilled firemen each, with state-of-the-art equipment, will soon head for Bihar to help flood victims

DEEPTIMAN TIWARY

    Two teams of 22 skilled firemen, each with three motorboats headed by Additional Municipal Commissioner R A Rajeev will take off to Bihar, for rescue operations.
    The team will reach Bihar as part of the state government's decision to provide assistance in the devastated region.
    "The team will be carrying flood rescue equipment. The personnels are trained to handle such situations in swift waters, opposing current and effectively rescue people trapped in such situations," said P Karguppikar, Deputy Chief Fire Officer.
    The team will use inflatable motorboats, floating stretchers, pneumatic lifting airbags (used to remove debris to rescue people in house collapses), rocket launchers; which inflate into a safety tube as soon as they touch water, water-proof torches with a signaling system, wet suits that keep a rescuer's body temperature in control, inflatable life jackets that can be strapped to even an unconscious victim and bags that when thrown towards a victim open up into inflated tubes.
    Speaking to Mumbai Mirror, Rajeev said that the team will immediately start work in the affected areas and aims at saving maximum lives.
    He said, "We would like to assure the people of Bihar that all Indians will support them through this difficult time."
ABOUT THE FLOOD
The Kosi river breached its banks ten days ago on the border with Nepal, flowing through a channel it had previously abandoned. Brahmdeo Yadav's village in badly-hit Saharsa district was reduced to an island surrounded by murky water.
    More than 400 boats have already been pressed into service and hundreds more would be used to shift people to relief shelters and higher ground by Bihar government. At least 46 people were reported to have been washed away in floods, as troops and air force helicopters rushed to help police in the rescue operation.
    BIHAR'S SORROW
The Kosi, which flows into the Ganges, is known as the 'River of Sorrow' due to its record of disastrous floods during the monsoon season. More than 800 people have been killed in monsoon-related accidents following the heavy June-to-September rains across India. Report on Page 12 

The firemen will be taking motorboats along with them for the rescue operations in Bihar

Bihar town goes 6 ft under

Hapless Govt Looks On As Raging Kosi Has People On Run

Abhay Mohan Jha

Madhepura: The turbulent Kosi is on an unrelenting rampage. After chasing away lakhs of people from the hinterland and threatening to devour thousands of marooned villagers, the marauding waters are flowing six feet deep through Madhepura town, the district headquarters.
    The town is sinking by the hour. SOS calls from distressed people are bouncing back from a government conspicuous by its inadequacy.
    "Officers running the district control room say they cannot help,'' said an inconsolable Mukesh Verma, who managed to reach the district headquarters on Saturday after a distress call to evacuate 25 members of his family from their roof in Jorgama village in Kumarkhand block. "They will all die. They are without food and water...please help me, sir,'' he cried.
    Madhepura, home to 15 lakh, was until now famous as the home of B P Mandal of Mandal Commission and for the battles between Lalu Prasad and Sharad Yadav for a Lok Sabha seat.
    Experts from the state water resources department fear a further worsening of the situation with the catchment area in upstream Nepal reporting more than 100mm of rainfall overnight.
We blundered, says Nepal
Admitting that Nepalese inaction had led to the Bihar flood crisis, Kathmandu has promised to work with India on building dams and embankments on the Kosi. P 9 

Flood-hit villagers run to collect relief supplies dropped by an IAF chopper in Madhepura's Kumarkhand block on Saturday

Fran Lebowitz  - "Life is something to do when you can't get to sleep."