The European Commission has moved quickly to provide €2 million in relief funds for victims of the floods in northern India and Nepal. A €1 million financing decision was launched last week to help Nepalese communities affected by the flooding and an additional amount of more than €1 million is being mobilised for food aid and other relief activities in Bihar.
A Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) team is on its way from New Delhi to assess needs in Bihar with a view to providing possible additional support.
The floods follow the collapse of a river embankment on the Kosi River which has now effectively changed course. Large swathes of Bihar state are under water, and the situation is exacerbated by the fact that many of the worst-hit communities have little experience of this kind of flood event. Huge numbers of people have been displaced from their homes. In the initial stages, the emphasis will be on meeting the basic needs of the most vulnerable people for food, clean drinking water, shelter, essential household items and sanitation.
Relief funds managed by the Commission's Humanitarian Aid department are channelled through its humanitarian partners: UN agencies, European relief NGOs and the Red Cross/Crescent movement.
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