Floods in South Asia are Among Worst in Memory
8 August 2007
Oxfam aims to provide emergency assistance to 500,000 people.
The recent flooding across South Asia is considered to be some of the worst in living memory, affecting an estimated 20 million people in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Together with its local partners, Oxfam is working to deliver emergency shelter, food, water, and sanitation to 500,000 people.
“Millions of the very poorest have lost their homes, their possessions, and their livelihoods,” said Ashvin Dayal, head of Oxfam in South Asia. “Thanks to good preparation, we have responded quickly and saved lives, but people desperately need our help to get back on their feet again.”
The floods follow earlier deluges that swamped parts of south Pakistan where Oxfam and local partners are providing drinking water and emergency shelter to 35,000 people. Learn more about Oxfam's relief work in Pakistan.
In India, access has been nearly impossible. Oxfam’s mobile teams are traveling by boat in the states of Assam and Bihar where they are delivering water purifiers and oral rehydration salts. In addition, they are helping to improve sanitation facilities in temporary camps and distributing shelter materials. Oxfam and its partners plan to reach 90,000 people in these two states.
In Bangladesh, our emergency response includes mobilizing support for 12,000 families living in five of the districts that have been hit the hardest. We will help provide shelter materials, food, clean water, sanitation services, and fodder for animals.
In Nepal, Oxfam is providing shelter for 2,200 families in two districts where we already work. As people return to their villages, we will be helping to organize clean-up campaigns and promoting good hygiene.
In Bahir, India, Flooded Villagers Need the Basics
Mani Kumar, an Oxfam program officer, is working in some of the most remote villages of Bihar in northern India where severe flooding has left countless families homeless. In the villages of Baluwaha and Bahadurpur people are struggling to get enough to eat, to find proper shelter, and to collect enough wood for their cooking fires.
Here is Kumar's account of two people affected by the floods.
Baluwaha village
As she took water from a fully inundated tubewell, Reena Devi expressed sadness. She said none of the nine members in her family had had proper food for the past seven days.
"We had to rush to the embankment when the floods hit suddenly on July 28, and could not take any thing with us,” she said. "Now, after 10 days, we have returned to our house, but it's completely soaked and damaged and not safe to stay. Also there is no fuel wood to cook. There has been no support from the government, unlike in 2004 when they provided us immediate relief. We will really starve for more than the next month, and we need shelter to stay safely.”
Bahadurpur village
"More than 2,000 people had to rush to away when floods hit our villages and water was increasing more than eight to10 feet," said Swarapia Devi. "Now for past 10 days we are staying in very unsafe conditions on the road. We have saris to put on top as shelters. No plastic sheets even. Oxfam provided support of a filter, so we are drinking water from this. We cannot go back to our village as it’s still marooned. There have been no medical supplies."
