DISPLACED PEOPLE ARE MIGRATING TO SAFETY

DISPLACED PEOPLE ARE MIGRATING TO SAFETY

13-AUG-ENG 5

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA------------------------In 2023, Bihar's Water Resources Minister had said that there is no possibility of any erosion on the banks of the Ganga River in Jawainiya village of Bhojpur district. Two years later, this village is submerging in the river. Residents are looking at the water with their cattle and bags.

Where will we go now - it is private land, we built a three-room house in 15 years with the earnings of a lifetime. It is going into the Ganga Maiya, please get some help from the government.'

55-year-old Ishwar Dayal Yadav, with unkempt hair, wearing a sky blue lungi and a colorful vest, has frustration clearly visible on his face. His house is getting submerged in water due to the rapid erosion of the Ganga.

Jawainiya village, about 35 kilometers from the Bhojpur district headquarters Ara, is on the lips of every citizen of the district at this time. From where every day the news of someone's house being washed away in the Ganges is taking up space in local newspapers and social media.

Ishwar Dayal Yadav and his wife Sushila Devi are standing in front of their house. This house has now drowned in the Ganges.

Ishwar Dayal says, 'My wife Sushila Devi worked very hard to build this house. This house was built four years ago during the Corona period so that old age can be spent properly. Life will now be spent here, but now who knows what will happen?'

Ishwar Dayal shows his house again and again. He has vacated his house. By then, his house falls with a thud in the strong current of the Ganges in front of him and Ishwar Dayal and his wife start screaming. The atmosphere becomes terrifying.

70-year-old Pacharatni Devi is sitting with her daughter-in-law. Her sons and grandchildren are present nearby. Her sons have removed the windows and doors of her house and sent them to a safe place so that it can be used somewhere in the future. Pachratni Devi's middle son Virendra says, 'Mother is shocked, she got married in this house, she has spent a major part of her life in this house, now where will we go, life has become unsafe. We all used to live in a big 11 room house, now the 11 room house has become a dream, soon we will leave it and go to an unknown place.'

From left - Due to fear of flood and erosion, the windows and doors of 75-year-old Pachratni Devi's house have been removed and taken to a safe place. The back part of the house has been destroyed by the current of the Ganges. | Pachratni Devi's family in front of their house.

38-year-old Santosh Shah shows his four-room house with his wife Nishu Devi, half of which has gone into the Ganges river.

He says, 'A month ago, father Bharat Shah died, so all the rituals were performed in this house. Now this is no longer a house. We three brothers lived comfortably in a four-room house. There were sometimes disagreements, but everything was fine. Now, we don't know what will happen.'

38-year-old Santosh Shah and his wife Nishu Devi, a part of whose house has been submerged in the Ganga.

The scorching sun of uncertainty and the erosion caused by the current of the Ganga river has submerged one-third of the village's land.

46-year-old Arvind Pandey is a BJP leader and a resident of this village. Showing his house, he says, 'My father Gopalji Pandey was born in this 9-room house. My grandfather Basropan Pandey had built it with great care. We have come to know that this house is not going to survive now, everyone is in shock.' BJP leader Arvind Pandey has vacated his ancestral house. 'Now this village is going to be wiped out.'

45-year-old Vinod Pandey is sitting on a broken chair. His eyes are stone-like and his throat is hoarse. He says, 'Now the neighbours and villagers don't know where they will go. We also don't know where to go now. Everything is left behind. I don't know if I will ever find anyone.' A part of 45-year-old Vinod Pandey's house has gone into the Ganga.

The area of this village is 1,870 bighas. 2,000 people used to live there. In 2021, suddenly the Ganga banks started eroding. In 2023, the erosion increased and by 2024 it took a horrific form. 'In 2025, this village will cease to exist. It has disappeared from geography. When the government could not save a village, how will it save the state or the country,' says Vinod. 45-year-old Baby Devi in front of her house. This house has now been washed away into the Ganga. 45-year-old Baby Devi has vacated the house with her three children Abhishek (18 years), Nitish (14 years) and Gunjan (16 years). Hiding her face with the end of her sari, she says, 'This house was built five years ago with a lot of hard work. One room was built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and two rooms were built with my own money. I had painted it. Now I can't see this house going into the water.'

Baby Devi's daughter Gunjan Kumari is studying matriculation. She is trying to wipe her mother's tears. Meanwhile, a part of Baby Devi's house collides with the Ganga and breaks and falls down. The sound of the house falling down goes far away. Baby Devi says, 'I have kept three cows, they run the household. I am more worried about the cattle than about my own food. Where will I keep them, what will I feed them?'

A little far away, 21-year-old Rameshwar Kumar Yadav's four-room house has been vacated. The windows and doors have been removed. The earthen stove is lying in the courtyard. The house is deserted, there is a deathly silence. 21-year-old Rameshwar Yadav in the courtyard of his deserted house. Outside the house, 50-year-old Hiramani Devi is standing at her door. She says, 'We built a four-room house by working as labourers. We live in this house with a boy and four girls. There was a ruckus in the village on Tuesday. We also vacated the house. Now there is no place to live.'

Hiramani Devi vacated her house The situation is the same in Chakia Nauranga village of Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh, adjacent to Jawainiya village. 65-year-old Dinanath Ram is collecting bricks in a street. He is preparing to keep these bricks at his daughter Binda Devi's in-laws' house and go to a safe place. Dinanath Ram People from the surrounding village are reaching this village to see the erosion. Some are providing food items to the people struggling with this disaster. There is a crowd of local YouTubers. They are shouting loudly in the TV style and asking their cameraman to capture the house falling into the Ganges on camera. They are pointing the camera at the people drowned in pain and asking, 'How are you feeling about these falling houses?' Many houses of Jawainiya village are going to be washed away into the Ganges due to erosion. The family members have already left the house. Babban Yadav of the same village says, 'No one is helping. The government and administration are silent. Everyone is coming and seeing and then going away. But no one is telling us where to go. I have 14 cows. I have to feed them, where will I keep them? No officer, MLA and leader even came to ask.'

Local RJD MLA Rahul Tiwari said that in the year 2023, a starred question was asked to the then Water Resources Minister in the Bihar Assembly that 'Is it true that the water of the Ganga river is causing rapid erosion in Jawainiya village of Damodarpur Panchayat of Shahpur block of Bhojpur district, if yes, then till when is the government trying to stop this erosion?'

The Water Resources Minister had said, 'No erosion is visible on the banks of the Ganga river in Jawainiya village.' People are being displaced due to floods.

Rahul Tiwari alleged that 'this village was destroyed due to the negligence of the government.' Earlier, Rahul Tiwari had written a letter in 2019 drawing the attention of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, in response to which it was said, 'The letter has been sent to the concerned department for appropriate action.' Dinesh Mishra, an expert who has done extensive study of Bihar's rivers, said, 'Wherever the Ganges turns, there is erosion in the outer part. There is more erosion at some places. People's fields and houses are cut and washed away in the Ganges. Then people migrate to Delhi, Mumbai, Punjab.' He further says, 'The government does not take any concrete steps in time. The government does not think about the value of people's lives and property.' Only water is visible all around in the area.

More than 125 villages of Bhojpur district are completely submerged. Akash Kumar Rai, a resident of Damodarpur, which is surrounded by flood water, said, 'There is no arrangement for transportation from the government. The local people have arranged for boats on their own. The boat goes to the market once and returns before evening.' Sitting on these crumbling boats, the villagers are waiting for the water to subside.