Flood victims worship the water god in Kusaha, Nepal, on Monday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Naugachia (Bhagalpur), Sept. 1: “Kuch nahi bacha, bhook ka bhoot ghum raha hai rastey par (The road is haunted by the ghost of starvation; nothing is left),” said Usha Devi from her makeshift tent on the NH-31 here.

After more than 40km of walk amid knee to waist-deep water for four days from Patharghat in the neighbouring Madhepura district, the 52-year-old woman found land on the highway last Friday. “I came here because my two sons made up their minds to migrate to Punjab or elsewhere as this floods ravaged the entire region,” she said in a frail voice oblivious of whether her other family members were still alive or not.

After the August 25 floods by the Kosi that left five north Bihar districts — Supaul, Saharsa, Madhepura, Araria and Purnea — cut off from the entire country, Bhagalpur has become the nearest railhead from where the flood victims could move out.

However, for Usha Devi, Karni Devi and thousands of others, the last five-odd days on the national highway were more than nightmare as they were not so fortunate to get food even after the Centre announced several crores and tonnes of foodgrain for relief.

Basic amenities like drinking water have eluded the villagers who are left starving on the road with the district administration turning a blind eye to the hapless flood victims.

Karni Devi’s family had everything at Sonvarsha village in Saharsa till a week back but now she has taken shelter on the highway and waiting for food. Hers was one of the hundreds of families of more than 25 villages which had either been washed away by the swollen Kosi or still waiting to be demolished beyond imagination. “We do not even get drinking water here, and the question of essential commodities does not even come to our mind. Only last evening, more then dozens of youths from Bhagalpur provided us some food after six days,” said Bivash Kumar of Dhamdaha in Purnea who along with his family members occupied a piece of the national highway — about 12km from Bhagalpur town — after coming out from their native place in a hurry on Wednesday night.

The floods have not only robbed lives, but also it left million others penniless. Even when people want to move out of the places ravaged by the river they can’t simply because they don’t have any savings left. “I want to go to my relative’s place in Haryana, but who will pay for my railway ticket?” Manoj, 42, asked this correspondent, adding local goons pounced on them after sunset. Even the women are not safe in the dark. “After sunset, local gangs strike as there is no provision of light, even a lamp. Amid complete darkness we can only hear the flow of water around us. Nothing else,” said Sandhya (not her real name), 20.

Not a single police officer or district officials was seen on the highway. “We are in danger as floodwater started entering the police station. We are busy for that,” said a junior officer of Naugachia police station on condition of anonymity. The Bhagalpur district magistrate was not available for comment also.

The entire stretch in Naugachia, famous for its world-class banana cultivation, has been replaced by the muddy floodwater. “I recently took a loan of Rs 10 lakh for my banana field, which is completely damaged,” said Bivash Singh of Tulshipur in a broken voice.