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DIARA DIARY
Mukul Sharma
Come monsoons and the cities of Bhagalpur, Munger, Kahalgaon and Sahebganj witness a sudden influx of people on the main roads, along the southern banks of the Ganga river. Villagers, displaced by annual floods, take shelter on railway platforms, bus stands and pavements. They are the diara people, foraging for food and shelter, and receiving reprimands everywhere. Hundreds of people huddle in small plastic tents. They get very little work in towns and are forced to work for very low wages, with men often pulling rickshaws and women working as housemaids.
The land between the Ganga and its tributaries—Burhi Gandak, Gandak, Kosi and Some is called the diara. The diara region faces floods and erosion every year. Using ...
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