Floods push Biharis to Punjab

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Rajpura, August 20

“Ek roti aur aachaar pey hum do raat guzaarey hain (we survived two nights on a chapatti and some pickle),” said Rani Devi, seated in the tiny space adjacent to a train lavatory, tightly holding her two young children aged four and five. “As the train reached Punjab, some good Samaritans offered us milk, tea and pakoras,” she added, her face lighting up for a while. “I wonder what is in store for us with our cattle and crops swept away in floods back home in Bihar,” she looked at her kids dolefully.

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Rani Devi is among thousands of flood-hit Biharis rushing to Punjab for sustenance — damp clothes thrown into jute bags and water bottles tucked under their arms. They are coming in groups from Purnia, Araria, Kishanganj and Katihar amid reports of the situation worsening with breaches in the embankments at Darbhanga, Katihar and Sitamarhi. 

One such batch of migrants that arrived in Rajpura from Saharsa via the Jan Sewa Express told The Tribune they were hopeful of finding employment in industrial units at Bathinda, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar since the labour- intensive paddy season had come to an end.

Each of them carrying a packet of relief material, Saharsa residents Rajkumar, Raibir and Raju Yadav said they intended to join their relatives in Ludhiana working in a hosiery unit there. “We lost our house, two cows and a goat in the floods. I waited for days for the situation to improve. With flood camps running out of supplies, I decided to leave everything behind,” said Raibir. According to official figures, 1.08 crore people have been hit by floods in 18 districts of Bihar.

It was the same story at Patiala railway station. “Even during the floods last year, I had stayed in Punjab for three months. The situation back home is hopeless. I have been trying to locate my brother missing since last week,” said Lachman Ahlo from Champaran, desperation writ large on his face.    

“As the flood waters gushed in, we hastened to vacate the village with only a few things we could lay our hands on,” recalled Pritpal Chohan, a resident of Araria, taking out wet clothes from his bag to dry in the sun. 

“This is all I have. I will now proceed to Bathinda where my cousin works in a factory. He will get me a job. Two of my relatives, who make kite strings, will go to Ludhiana,” he said. 

In a reverse swing, some Biharis working in Punjab are rushing home to trace their kin, having lost touch with them after the floods. 

“I am neither able to reach my brother nor my wife, who is in her fourth month of pregnancy. The last time I spoke to a relative, I was told the fields in our village had submerged and the houses drowned,” said a worried Sham Sundar.

Amid the gloom is a silver lining. The rise in migrant workers is sure to bring cheer to Punjab’s hosiery sector which has been facing labour pains for long.