NALBARI, July 21 ? For Zarina Khatun (32), life?s daily grind, including cooking meals for her family, looking after her three children and searching for potable water, goes on. Her home is a sheet of tarpaulin hung up on bamboo poles on the roadside. This is what protects her family and their cattle from the elements. Her husband, Farid, when not fishing in the vast waters, lies in a folding cot thinking of ways to procure the next meal. The National Highway 31, connecting this town to the State capital, is now home to thousands of people like Zarina who have built temporary shelters on it. The vast stretches of land on either side of this arterial highway are flooded. Hundreds of men are busy trying to net a fish to take ?home? for dinner. In Nalbari town itself, several important offices, including that of the local Superintendent of Police is inundated.
For the people of Nalbari, and elsewhere in the State, the latest spell of floods has brought immense misery. But they are taking it in their stride. During the drive from Guwahati to Nalbari, one sees long lines of temporary shelters on the roadside. Inside them are smiling faces of people who have not let the surging waters wash away their fighting spirit and their hopes. They share their shelters with their domesticated animals. ?There is no point grumbling. We have to take nature?s fury as it comes,? says septuagenarian Damodar Das. His home in one of the interior villages is fully under water. The highway has been his home for the last eleven days. The only complaint that he has is that the relief given to him is not enough for his family of nine.
The 70 odd kilometre of NH 31 from Guwahati is now free from water. But it bears the scars left behind by the waters that had overtopped it at several places. Ghastly potholes make the drive a bone-jarring one. At several places, the swirling waters have eroded the road. Along with the flood refugees and cattle there are hundreds of trucks lining up one side of the road leaving little space for moving vehicles on the double lane highway. Jagtar Singh, driving a Haryana registered trailer truck, has been stuck on this stretch for over six days. The floodwaters all around has made it difficult for him to get his meals. Along the road, one sees flood relief teams distributing relief materials among the clamouring populace.
What is heartening to see is that apart from the Government, the common people of Guwahati are also reaching out to the flood victims. A team from Ghosh Brothers, a private Guwahati-based firm, is already on the spot with several vehicles loaded with supplies. Another team of former students of Guwahati Commerce College is seen on its way to Nalbari. For over two weeks, traffic on National Highway 31 was cut off with the waters of the Pagladia River washing away a culvert near Banekuchi village between Nalbari and Barama. The 70 feet gap is what led to hundreds of trucks getting stuck midway. Passenger vehicles had to take the few alternative routes available. Not surprisingly, prices of vegetables in Nalbari have been hitting the roof over the past few days.
A 100 feet long Bailey bridge has been laid by the 11 Engineer Regiment of the Red Horns Division after the State Chief Secretary requested the Army to help restore communication on this vital road. The bridge was formally opened to traffic this morning. For truck drivers like Jagtar Singh, their long wait is over. ?We built this bridge within 24 hours of receiving instructions,? said Col Navin Ahuja, Commanding Officer (CO) of the Changsari-based 11 Engineer Regiment, who was present at the site. This is the regiment that has plunged headlong in flood rescue and relief operations in the area by deploying its fleet of boats and mechanised boats. All the stranded trucks will be cleared by today, said Col Ahuja.
The floods have badly affected road communication in the State. Breaches have occurred at several places. The 11 Engineer Regiment is erecting three more Bailey bridges. The one on the Barpeta-Howly part of NH 31 will be ready by this evening, Col Ahuja assured. Another two will be erected on the Hajo-Nalbari road and on NH 37 at Rangjuli, he said. The CO said that more such bridges could be erected if necessary provided it is technically feasible. ?The Army has come forward as a major force in rescue and relief work during the floods,? he said. The Red Horns Engineers have so far rescued 1,364 people and ferried another 4,698 to safe places. Some 90,000 kg of rations have been provided to the flood victims while 8,000 food packets have been distributed. This is apart from the dozens of tarpaulins and Rs 1.2 lakh worth of medicines that have been supplied.