More than 50 lakh population of 15 districts is affected by this year's floods in Bihar. This is the situation when according to the data of the Disaster Management Department, the state has received 28 percent less rainfall than normal.
People living in these areas often have to leave their settled habitations and seek shelter elsewhere. Not only is employment and household affected, it also affects children's education.
More than 1,400 government schools in the state are affected by the floods and the education of more than three lakh students has been affected.
BBC has prepared this report on the basis of conversations with government schools and students studying in the flood affected areas of Patna district.
Sanaya Kumari, studying in fourth class, is also one of these children. She studies in Mundichak Primary School, Punpun.
This school with 71 students is surrounded by water on all sides and it looks like an island.
Sanaya becomes silent for a while saying 'The school has drowned..'
His father Pappu Kumar, who works as a laborer in Kerala, has returned to his village after seeing the flood situation. Sanaya's house is in Mundichak village, just 15 kilometers away from the state capital Patna.
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This thatched hut house is submerged in water.
Sanaya's mother Manisha Devi says that her husband has returned from Kerala amid flood concerns but now he has no employment here. In such a situation, even running a household is difficult.
Both the husband and wife are not educated and they wish that their daughter should become a bank manager.
Out of the total 38 districts of Bihar, there are 28 districts where there is a danger of floods.
Reshmi Kumari's two children also study in primary school Mundichak. His house is also waist-deep in flood water from Punpun river.
Reshmi says helplessly, "I have four children. Two children used to go to a government school, but the school itself drowned. I have sent the children to their grandmother's place. If we stay here, there is a danger of drowning. When the water comes out, the school will open. But whatever the children had learned, they will forget while playing and playing."
'All education was ruined'
Like Manisha Devi and Reshmi, Jagat Kumar Vibhakar is also going through the same dilemma regarding the education of his children.
Jagat Kumar Vibhakar, a laborer by profession, has two sons who are students of class IX and XII. Both of them study in Higher Secondary School, Khokhna (Fatuha).
The route to his school passes through the village garden where water is stagnant.
Jagat Kumar's son Prince is a science stream student in class 12th and wants to make a career in the Merchant Navy.
He says, "The duty of all the teachers in our school has been shifted to other places. Some teachers sit near the temple to get the 12th class form filled. There is a little passion in studying with friends in school and coaching. It does not feel good to be alone at home like this. I am worried about my future."
Prince's father Jagat Kumar is also worried about his son.
He says, "Children have been affected by missing out on education. Coaching is also closed. We cannot do anything. How much will a poor man do? We teach as much as we are capable. But now what can we do if there is a flood?"
Water has reduced in some schools but...
The impact of floods is currently reducing in many places in the state.
BBC News Hindi found some government schools in Punpun, Fatuha and Phulwari Sharif of Patna, where there is no flood water now.
But these schools have accumulated filth brought with the flood water which is inviting diseases. Teaching has started in some of these schools, teachers have started coming in some and some are locked.
Studies have started in the primary school located at Ranipur in Fatuha. A path has been made for the movement of students with the help of bricks in the water accumulated outside the school.
When we reached the school, all the taps in the school were opened as a precaution so that the foul smell coming from the water could go away.
Students coming to school drink this water. There are only two rooms in this school in which studies are conducted till class five.
Out of this also, a place has to be made in one of the rooms to keep the mid-day meal items i.e. utensils and grains.
After the flood waters receded, the teachers of the school got the place cleaned but bleaching powder and other necessary things were not sprayed.
School head teacher Mohammad Arshad says, "The government has not provided any powder for sprinkling or cleaning. Flood water has accumulated outside, for which there is no arrangement."
But is there a risk of students getting sick due to this?
On this question, Arshad says, "I have no answer to this question because I have to run the school. If I don't run the school, the blame will fall on me."
When BBC asked Education Minister Mithilesh Tiwari about the arrangement of bleaching powder, he said, "Gram Panchayat is authorized for this. It is the job of Gram Panchayat to spray bleaching powder etc."
The primary school of Punpun itself, Mahitpur Tetri Primary School is open. But right now only teachers are present in it. Champa Kumari, a teacher teaching in this school, tells BBC News Hindi, "Considering the safety of the children, we have not started studies in the school yet. An effort will be made to start the school by sprinkling powder to keep snakes away."
Come and go to study coaching by swimming in floods
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Among all these, the school children living in the Ganga basin are in the biggest trouble.
All government and non-government schools in Nakata Diara of Patna are submerged in water. A large number of school children stranded in the flood waters come to Patna city by boat every day.
An overloaded boat flowing above the danger mark in the Ganga in which common people are sitting and along with them bicycles, household items, big cans of milk, animal straw, sacks of potatoes are kept.
Those traveling by these boats include everyone from small children to students studying in class 10th.
Nandini Kumari is one such student of seventh class. She comes daily from Nakata Diara to Patna city to study coaching. The government school where she studies is submerged in flood water.
Nandini, who is waiting for the boat at the Minar Ghat of Ganga, tells BBC News Hindi, "They come to study coaching by swimming in the flood water. They feel scared in the boat. The government should do something. If they do not come to study coaching, they will lag behind in studies. They have gone to class seven."
We also met Badal Kumar at the same Minar Ghat. He was in school uniform and crosses the river to go to school every day. Badal Kumar studies in a private school. He says, "I feel scared but still I come."
Mother Ganga may save us or drown us
One gets scared after seeing the expanse of Ganga at Minar Ghat. Here people have to wait for hours for the boat. Only after one boat is filled does another boat arrive.
In such a situation, most of the boats are running overloaded. People on boats take the help of umbrellas to provide relief from the scorching sun.
Chhotu Kumar, who lives in Nakata Diara, says, "Even after the boat is launched, everyone will be able to reach their home only after wading waist-deep in water because it is submerged. There is a lot of risk but this is how the life of the people of Diara goes on."
Seeing the vastness of Ganga, some parents have shifted their children to their relatives living in Patna city.
Babita Kumari, who was sitting tearfully on the ghat, has also sent her nine-year-old and 15-year-old children to their relatives living in Patna city. She says crying, "Now whether Mother Ganga saves us or drowns us."
She says, "Children will study from their relatives' place. If the government provides a bridge, the children will come and go on their own."
problems of teachers
At present half yearly examinations are going on in the state. The Education Department has announced that these examinations will be scheduled later in the schools affected by the floods.
Every year, in Bihar, which is battling floods, the services of teachers of flood affected schools are taken in two ways.
Firstly, they are appointed in relief camps where they have to teach the school children who have reached the relief camp and secondly, they are tagged in some other school near their original school.
But it is not very effective at the ground level.
Vyasji, former vice-chairman of the Disaster Management Authority, told BBC News Hindi, "The government makes arrangements to educate children in relief camps, but it is not as effective as schools. There are many reasons for this, one of which is that not all flood affected people reach the relief camps. They have to stay at home for the safety of their animals etc. In such a situation, wherever the family is, the children will also stay."
Another way to avail the services of teachers is to tag them with another school. Many times, students of flood affected schools are also shifted there i.e. provision is made for their classes to be held there.
But flooded houses and lack of space in schools create difficulties for this method to be effective.
For example, Anuj Kumar, a teacher teaching in Middle School, Lakhna (Punpun), was on duty in another school during the flood, but during the flood, he continued attending his native school.
When asked the reason, Anuj explains, "One day duty was imposed in Sahebnagar School. But there were only four rooms there. How could the teachers and students of Sahebnagar School be accommodated. So we were ordered to go back to our own school and mark our attendance. It was a holiday for the children but we used to do duty from 10 to 4."
Flood holiday instead of normal holidays in affected schools
"But the problem is that many times schools become shelters during floods. Families live in those shelters. Where people have settled on the banks of the river and there is a demand from them to open a school next to their house, then we have requested the Water Resources Department for the protection of such schools."
But what is the easiest way to ensure that students' studies are not affected during floods?
Former administrative officer Vyas ji says, "Many times, recommendations have been made that the holidays should be adjusted differently in those areas. In flood-affected areas, instead of giving holidays to children when they can go to school, they should be given holidays during floods. We call this flexible timing. The government should make such a policy after talking to all the stakeholders."
But this will not be easy in the changing patterns of floods.
According to the data of the Disaster Management Department, this time the state has received 28 percent less rainfall than normal in the period from June 1 to September 16. Clearly, the smooth operation of schools is also going to be a new challenge for the Bihar government, which is facing challenges in terms of infrastructure and appointment of teachers.
