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'Private boatmen were fleecing us'

September 04, 2008
"The kids get restless a couple of hours after lunch as they do not have anything to do. Some people donated biscuits and we distribute it to the kids early in the evening," Salahuddin said.

The flood-hit sit in the camp all day, and wait for the newly arrived to describe the situation in the villages.

"In our village, like most others, there was no warning. When it floods, the water level rises gradually. This time, it just gushed in and in a few minutes, we were neck-deep in water. We did not even have a chance to grab our essentials," Mohammed Kamal from Titapura village said, adding that the private boatmen were fleecing those who were fleeing their homes.

"First they said they had no fuel. Then they ferried the rich people who paid them a lot of money. Then they came back and waited. They were just sitting there, watching us, as the water rose. As the water level had risen to the shoulders, they started bargaining. 'Now give us all the money you have and we will take you to safety,' they said. Some of the boat men even demanded separate fee for people of the same family. All the money we had went to them," he said.

Image: Flood-affected villagers sit in an inflatable boat after being rescued by the National Disaster Relief Force personnel in Laxmipur district in Bihar.
Photographs: Diptendu Dutta/AFP/Getty Images

Also read: 'Tsunami of Bihar' could have been avoided

Give victims of Bihar's floods hope of a brighter future

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