Dear Friends of Bihar Chintan,

Bihar today represents a bizarre site. The devastating flood continues its fury and the state government its stoic non-action. Laloo ji has given a radical and graphic explanation of egalitarian and pro-people impact of flood, which takes the fishes from the pond of rich people to the door steps of the poor people allowing them to catch fish inside their house. On the other extreme we have the news that a developmental agency has reached with some help just for the ‘Mushars’ in the flood affected areas. As if this ‘vision’ of Social Justice was not enough, you have the news of bloodshed in Siwan in which 10 persons are mowed down. Atal ji is visiting Bihar today, the PM is expected to be there on 27^th . Aerial surveys of flood by the leaders continue so does the sufferings of the people of Bihar. In the meanwhile, the Planning Commission has sanctioned a pittance of Rs 60 crore for three flood-related projects for the state- Bhagalpur, Rasalpur and Mukhama Tal, to be implemented over the next three years.

The immediate task, however, remains to get it declared as national calamity to ensure a long term and adequate relief work for a few months to come. In this regard, as decided in our meeting earlier a Bihar Chintan team of concerned citizens is leaving for Bihar today consisting of the following members: Vijay Pratap, Basant, Kishan Kaljayee and myself. Shri Dinesh Kumar Mishra, an expert on floods will also be joining us there from Jamshedpur. (You could contact the team on the following mobile numbers: 9868249634-Vagish; 011-33444402 - Vijay Pratap)

Please let us know if you have got any important contact or any group working in any area with the name of the contact person so that we could contact them and get more comprehensive feedback and local support. (You may be aware that Bihar Chintan has virtually no resources and the team is visiting bearing its own cost. So any local support and logistical help may be a great support to our effort.)

In the meanwhile, a meeting of some concerned NGOs took place yesterday in Patna to streamline the relief work. The details will be posted to you as we receive them.