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Viewing cable 08NEWDELHI2400, BIHAR FLOODS: MILLIONS DISPLACED, INDIAN RESCUE

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08NEWDELHI2400 2008-09-05 13:01 2011-08-26 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy New Delhi
VZCZCXRO6221
OO RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHNE #2400/01 2491301
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 051301Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3281
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 7014
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 5238
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 2786
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 1383
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 5776
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 6866
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 7870
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 NEW DELHI 002400 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR IN
SUBJECT: BIHAR FLOODS:  MILLIONS DISPLACED, INDIAN RESCUE 
EFFORTS AT CRUCIAL STAGE 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary:  Nearly two weeks after the Kosi River in 
Bihar jumped its banks and caused the worst flooding in 50 
years, millions have been displaced and half a million remain 
stranded in rural villages.  More than 90 are reported dead, 
according to unofficial estimates, a toll that is sure to 
grow sharply as bodies are recovered.  Flood victims in a 
remote corner of Bihar, one of India's poorest and most 
populous states, have gone without food for days in what 
Indian government and USAID contacts have described as a 
"crucial and final stage" of rescue efforts. Meanwhile, 
United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF) India and 
Bihar-ba{ed NGOs worry that contagious disease may break out 
and exacerbate the humanitarian situation in the cramped 
relief shelters, where a quarter million displaced people are 
living.  In response to Ambassador Mulford's disaster 
declaration on August 28, the USAID's Office of Foreign 
Disaster Assistance (OFDA) made an initial contribution of 
USD 100,000 to Bihar flood relief.  Based on a field 
assessment of flood-affected areas, OFDA will determine 
additional needs for relief and recovery by September 18. 
The floods in Bihar have exposed confusion, breakdowns in 
emergency preparedness and a leadership vacuum at all levels. 
 Although the Bihar state government has taken the brunt of 
the criticism for its slow response, the United Progressive 
Alliance (UPA) government in New Delhi was equally 
ill-prepared for the scale of the disaster.  End Summary. 
 
Worst Flooding in 50 Years 
--- 
 
2.  (U)  The Kosi River in Bihar breached an embankment 
across the border in Nepal on August 18, causing the worst 
floods in the area in 50 years.  The Kosi often floods the 
Bihar plains during monsoon season, but this year's floods 
are particularly devastating as they have affected areas 
unaccustomed to high water levels.  More than 3 million 
people over 394 square miles have been affected by the 
flooding and over a quarter of a million people have been 
evacuated, the Bihar government said on August 29.  One 
state-level disaster management official told us that the 
relief machinery in Bihar has managed to evacuate 800,000 
flood victims.  However, as water levels have started to 
recede, some flood victims have chosen to stay where they are 
and that the "administration cannot force them (to leave)." 
The death toll in the state has been difficult to determine. 
Bihar emergency management officials have reported 42 deaths, 
but actual deaths are expected to be much higher as the 
official death toll accounts for only recovered bodies. 
Local NGOs working on flood relief have estimated that the 
death toll could be as high as 2,000 people. 
 
3.  (U)  After days of delay and mounting criticism of its 
sluggish response, the Indian government stepped up 
evacuation and relief on August 28, committing USD 230 
million in federal disaster relief and mobilizing resources 
to evacuate flood victims spread over 15 districts.  As of 
September 3, federal and state authorities had set up more 
than 270 relief shelters and healthcare camps.  The Indian 
armed forces have moved on "war footing" to assist with 
rescue operations, dispatching rescue boats and air-dropping 
emergency supplies and food packets to the half million who 
have been left stranded by the rising waters. 
 
USG Steps Up 
--- 
 
4.  (SBU)  The USG has responded to the crisis with an 
initial USD 100,000 that Ambassador Mulford requested in a 
disaster declaration on August 28.  USAID has requested the 
Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) to conduct a 
field assessment of flood affected areas to determine 
additional needs for relief and recovery.  Based on their 
visits to the flooded areas, OFDA officials will provide an 
 
NEW DELHI 00002400  002 OF 004 
 
 
initial assessment by September 18. 
 
Possible Humanitarian Crisis, Says UNICEF India 
--- 
 
5.  (SBU)  But the tragedy is not entirely nature's doing. 
UNICEF India representative Karin Hulshof told Poloff on 
September 3 that the situation due to flooding continues to 
be serious and unpredictable, and that the state faces a 
"major humanitarian crisis" if the Indian state and federal 
governments do not step up rescue and relief efforts. 
Nearly two weeks after the scale of flooding became apparent, 
tens of thousands are still trapped on rooftops, elevated 
roads or surrounded by water in distant villages.  Six 
critical areas in the districts of Sepaul and Madhepura are 
without food and water.  Government officials estimate that 
60,000 to 80,000 people need to be rescued in these two 
districts, but NGOs indicated a much higher count of 500,000. 
 UPA government leaders have placed the blame squarely on the 
shoulders of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) - BJP allied state 
government for failing to provide adequate rescue and relief 
to flood victims.  Following a visit to flood-affected areas, 
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on September 3 accused the state 
government of negligence "on all fronts," alleging that Chief 
Minister Nitish Kumar has managed relief and rescue 
operations casually. 
 
6.  (U)  Experts and aid agencies blame both state and 
federal government for not only mishandling relief but also 
for failing to warn people of rising floodwaters.  One 
example of state government mismanagement reported by the 
newspaper Mail Today: emergency fax messages sent by 
engineers at the Kosi dam warning of impending disaster were 
ignored in Bihar's capital Patna.  The faxes piled up on the 
relevant bureaucrat's desk because he was on leave and no 
deputy had been assigned.  Calling for "prosecutions for 
criminal negligence", the paper noted that no one reacted 
even when warnings were sent to other officials. 
 
7.  (U)  Meanwhile, anger is mounting and stick-wielding 
victims have resorted to looting food warehouses and trucks 
in some areas.  Tens of thousands have crowded into 
unsanitary relief camps, where tensions are growing over the 
desperate lack of emergency supplies.  UNICEF's Hulshof 
indicated that the heat combined with limited supplies of 
safe drinking water and poor hygiene conditions may become a 
fertile feeding ground for water and vector-borne diseases 
such as cholera and typhoid. 
 
Missed Opportunity to Prevent Floods? 
--- 
 
8.  (U)  Arguments have developed over whether the Bihar 
flooding could have been prevented.  The Kosi River's flow is 
regulated by a barrage on the Nepalese side of the border. 
It was built in the late 1950s and, according to analysts, 
was meant to be a "short-term solution" for 20 to 30 years. 
Analysts have blamed the Government of India for inadequate 
repair and maintenance of the embankment.  (Note: Under a 
joint agreement with Nepal, India agreed to pay for the 
maintenance of the river embankment.  End Note.) 
 
9.  (U)  Others have called for joint India-Nepal efforts to 
address massive natural silting issue along the river 
embankment.   Environmentalists say that both governments 
should have worked to de-silt the Kosi River, which is prone 
to quickly change course leaves behind heavy silt and debris. 
 Along these lines, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani met Prime 
Minister Manmohan Singh on September 3 to discuss joint 
efforts with Nepali counterparts to address recurring floods 
in Bihar.  "In today's situation, everybody should come 
together to help rather than indulging in mud slinging," 
Advani added in an attempt to temper earlier criticism from 
 
NEW DELHI 00002400  003 OF 004 
 
 
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and other UPA leaders. 
 
The Politics of Disaster Relief 
--- 
 
10.  (U)  Indian politicians have actively engaged in Bihar 
flood relief projects ahead of competitive state assembly 
elections later this year and national elections due by May 
2009.  Leading the pack is Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad 
Yadav, who has announced an assistance package worth USD 2 
million from the Railway Minister's Welfare and Relief Fund. 
He also encouraged all 33,000 railway employees to donate a 
day's salary to flood relief and has not missed an 
opportunity to talk about the USD 23,000 prize money from a 
popular Indian television game show that he donated to flood 
victims. 
 
11.  (U)  When asked why he created a separate fund from the 
Bihar Chief Minister's Fund, Prasad said, "We are setting up 
this fund for our own satisfaction.  We want to make sure 
this money reaches the needy."  He went on to accuse Chief 
Minister Kumar of "criminal negligence," noting the 500,000 
victims left stranded in devastated floods.  Following 
Prasad's lead, Congress MP from Rajasthan Sachin Pilot has 
urged Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to consider asking all MPs 
to use their MP Local Area Development funds outside their 
constituencies.  Pilot said that he would personally donate 
USD 230,000 to flood victims.  BJP president Rajnath Singh 
set up the party's own Bihar Calamity Fund of more than USD 
117,500 on September 2 and announced that the party would 
adopt one of the flood-affected villages.  Meanwhile, 
Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh 
visited flood-hit regions on September 3 and are expected to 
donate USD 23,000 to relief fund. 
 
Comment:  A Grim Situation 
--- 
 
12.  (SBU)  With a mlange of federal, state, city and 
private recovery efforts under way, the current state of the 
relief effort is murky.  The humanitarian situation in Bihar 
remains grim and -- as information trickles in about 
destruction, human displacement, and death tolls -- may even 
be deteriorating by some measures.  Tens of thousands remain 
stranded in the worst affected districts of Supaul, 
Madhepura, and Araria, as the Government of India continues 
to struggle with search and rescue operations and food runs 
out.  Equally alarming is the lack of preparedness at all 
levels of authority to provide emergency relief to assist the 
more than three million people displaced by floods and, as a 
result, the threat of a worsening humanitarian situation 
remains.  In all probability, the after effects of flooding 
in Bihar will continue for months, and substantial 
rehabilitation efforts will be required by the Indian and the 
international humanitarian assistance community. 
 
Comment:  Political Fallout 
--- 
 
13.  (SBU) In the aftermath of flooding, a new political 
storm is brewing in New Delhi and Patna over the inadequate 
government response to the disaster in Bihar.  Much of the 
criticism is directed at the JD(U) - BJP state government. 
The UPA has also been heavily criticized for the delayed 
emergency response to assist the 500,000 stranded flood 
victims.   The flood has also provided an opportunity for 
some.  Former Chief Minister of Bihar and current Indian 
Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, whose star was declining 
in the state, was able to strengthen his appeal by using his 
Railways Ministry to mobilize relief.  Ahead of hotly 
contested state assembly elections in November 2008 and 
national elections due by May 2009, the fumbled government 
response to Bihar flood relief is expected to be an important 
 
NEW DELHI 00002400  004 OF 004 
 
 
elections issue.  End Comment. 
MULFORD