Exactly two years have passed since Bihar was ravaged by the disastrous Kosi floods, but still the reconstruction of the houses for the thousands of victims remain only on paper.
Two years after they were displaced and turned homeless by the Kosi flood, described as a national disaster by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, the state government has failed to provide any shelter to them.
Hundreds of thousands of Kosi flood victims are still struggling for shelter. More than 1.5 lakh houses were completely washed away or damaged as per official assessment during the floods, but the government has initiated construction work for a negligible 6,000 houses so far.
"The reconstruction of houses for flood victims is happening at a very slow pace, and it will take years to be completed with this speed," an official associated with the Kosi Rehabilitation and Reconstruction told rediff.com on Thursday.
In August 2008, vast swathes of five districts of north Bihar including Madhepura, Purnea, Saharsa, Supaul and Araria were flooded after water from river Kosi swamped the area following a breach in the embankment at Kusaha in Nepal.
Principal secretary, planning department of the Bihar government, Vijay Prakash, blamed the delay to get $ 210 million loan from the World Bank for reconstruction of houses for the flood victims.
