Transcript for:
Flood Relief Insights in North Bihar

[Music] [Music] the is foreign areas of balasor mayurbanch and kattak in north bihar it is a job to get at the truth meet any official he will claim his district subdivision or block is the worst hit and pass on a handout with the statistics of relief work the village of mandaspur nine miles from balashow district the granary of orissa orisa early morning after eight days of floods paddy fields with knee deep water a village speaks i have eleven children two i have left to the mercy of god the rest are begging somewhere i went to the village to find out the truth all the houses are collapsed many were washed away the men women and children were silent they gazed at the sky i had walked two miles in muddy water to reach the village but the villagers would not tell me anything until i convinced them i wasn't a government official the floods were sudden the entire village was asleep we heard a roaring sound and were engulfed we took shelter on treetops a relief party came at last five students with a transistor a team of biscuits a camera the villagers ran to them they slapped their bellies unwind i have not eaten for three days my husband has been washed away my parents have abandoned me my son is dying i cannot find my daughter don't make a noise said the students sit down in a circle the villagers sat down in a circle they did not say another word the transistor was on the biscuits were distributed the camera clicked then the students left harming the tune of a popular hindi film song i moved on and arrived at a swollen tributary the boatman wouldn't furry me across till i told him i wasn't a government official i arrived at arda but the villagers wouldn't talk to me till i told them i was in the government official at batapal i heard the children whale with hunger an atmosphere of despair pervaded the village i asked the men to help me organize relief but they turned their backs on me till i told them i was in the government official the district authorities at balaso admitted they had failed but they claimed they could not have done better nature they said had conspired against them write the truth [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] what atillary the villagers sat down in a circle they did not say another word our material the transistor was on radio onai the biscuits were distributed the camera clicked then the students left [Music] till i told them i was in [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you