Wireless telephone, a 'lifeline' for Bihar flood victims

For hundreds of people marooned by floods in a village in Bihar, a wireless telephone is the only link to the outside world.

This wireless telephone is acting as a savior for the people in Darbhanga District's Baghla Kamalpur village.

Telephone booth operator Mohammed ata-ur-Rahman is trying to keep people connected with their relatives through this wireless phone.

Rahman moves about in a boat with his wireless phone and helps people make essential calls to their relatives or government officials so that rescue is on the way.

"There is no other way than this phone. Even, this will stop working once its battery goes low. All landlines have stopped working but I had kept my wireless phone intact," he said.

Districts like Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi, Patna and Bhagalpur are the worst affected. Dozens of bridges, embankments and roads have been damaged and hundreds of houses, especially in rural areas, have collapsed.

Several residential areas in the state capital are also waterlogged.

Marooned people are facing drinking water scarcity. The shortage of food items, has been reported from several areas and the prices of essential goods has touched an all-time high.

The latest bout of monsoon flooding, which began about three weeks ago, is said to be the worst in living memory in parts of Bihar. It has affected about 30 million people across India, 10 million of them in Bihar alone.Besides several thousands marooned, at least 487 people have drowned, died from snakebites, hunger or water-borne diseases. Many have even been crushed to death or electrocuted in the devastating monsoon floods.

Many have even been crushed to death or electrocuted in the devastating monsoon floods.