PATNA: Amid reports of loot of flood relief material, two ministers of Nitish Kumar cabinet had to face the ire of the flood victims during their visit to Bihar’s Saharsa district on Saturday. The ministers Dileep Jaiswal and Neeraj Kumar Babloo were gheraoed by women during their visit to the flood hit areas.As soon as the convoy of the ministers—Jaiswal (revenue and land reforms department minister) and Neeraj Babloo (PHED minister) stopped near Brahmapur under Mahisi block, some women from a nearby relief camp surrounded them. They didn’t allow the VIP vehicles to proceed and forced the ministers to listen to their grievances.The flood victims complained about the lack of relief materials and chaos at the camp. They also alleged that food served to the flood victims at the government-run relief camps was sub-standard and there was no fixed time of providing food to them. There is no arrangement of milk and biscuits for the children and elderly people staying in relief camps.The lack of fodder for the animals has also added woes to the flood victims. Their cattle have died, and crops destroyed due to floods. “We have nothing to eat. We somehow managed to escape as flood waters entered the village at night. Our top priority was to save our lives and those of our cattle,” said Amrika Rai, a resident of Mahisi.Reports said that a mob of flood victims looted relief material from a vehicle under the Mahisi block. The relief material packed in small bags carrying the batches of the saffron party was looted by the victims when the vehicle was crossing from a relief camp. Sources said that the ministers had carried relief material for distribution to flood victims.Similarly, Saharsa mayor B. Priya was surrounded by a mob of flood victims when she visited a relief camp located near Gandaul. The flood victims blocked her vehicle carrying relief material and made her distribute the same on the spot.Some women and children suffered minor injuries in the altercation that ensued in their attempts to get the relief material first. Meanwhile, the flood situation across the state remained grim as major rivers were still flowing above the danger level. The fresh rainwater discharged from Nepal has frightened people living in Sitamarhi and Darbhanga districts as the water level in some major rivers like Bagmati and Adhwara group of rivers was increasing.
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