Seventeen years have passed since the eastern embankment of the Saptakoshi river was destroyed by the flood. But the hearing of the relief and compensation of the victims has not been completed yet. Although the years have changed, the victim's life remains the same. For 17 years, the government has not received the land as promised, nor any other support as announced.

On August 2, 2065, the flood that broke the eastern embankment of the Saptakoshi river caused a huge loss of wealth in Sunsari, Saptari and Bihar region of India. 7 thousand 563 families of Sripur, Haripur and Paschim Kushaha of Sunsari were displaced. 6 thousand 800 bigha of land was covered with sand so that it could not be used due to the flood of Koshi . The flood victims have been waiting for relief since 17 years. It is not yet decided to get relief,' says Panchnarayan Mandal, president of the Koshi Flood Victims Struggle Committee. There are still heaps of sand in the paddy fields. They are forced to make a living by cultivating vegetables and watermelons on that pile. The chairman says, 'Still there is sand in 1300 bighas, it is not possible to cultivate in the place where there is sand.'

Mohammad Noor of West Kushaha 4 of Sunsari still trembles when he remembers the flood at that time. Soon after the Koshi dam broke and flooded the settlement, his 5 bigas of land was washed away . Even now, the sand in his field is the same . He said, "Even if the government wants to remove the sand, it has not been removed yet." Earlier, about 300 manas of rice grew in that field. Now there is no situation to plant rice . He is now cultivating watermelons and green vegetables in his farm. Due to lack of irrigation, vegetable cultivation was also not completed. Noor said, "Zenten's family has been living with the income from vegetable and watermelon farming."

The local Naresh Mukhiya has not been able to return to his old life yet. The chief who used to make a living as a farmer is now living as a wage laborer. Koshi Rural Municipality-7 of Sunsari, the head of Harinagar once had his own house. Now the river is flowing in that land . 55-year-old Naresh has 7 people in his family. He said that now it is very difficult to support the family. He said, "even after 17 years have passed, my life has not been the same as before, rather it is becoming more and more difficult." The government had promised to build a house, but nothing has been given in 17 years.' 

Local Suryanarayan always remembers the incident 16 years ago and says that at that time it rained continuously for 20 days . "Suddenly, after hearing that the Koshi Dam had burst, we fled from there at night." We saved lives but property could not be saved . Those who own land migrated to other places as well, we have not been able to rise from the life of a squatter until today,' Sada says, 'The government said to build houses, schools, and health posts in the squatter area, but nothing has been done yet, even though the years have changed in 17 years, our lives have not changed.' Sada said that he would go to different places in India for employment as he would get work in India during the farming season. 

Mohammad Uzir Mansoor used to cultivate wheat on 12 bighas by bringing in paddy in October. Deducting expenses from paddy and wheat, the annual income was 10 lakh rupees. He said that now the 6 bigha field, which has been cleared of sand by spending three lakh rupees, is not yielding even half of the grain compared to before. "There is vegetable cultivation in a 6-bigha field covered with sand, even that cannot be grown in sand," he said. Panch Narayan Mandal, Chairman of Koshi Flood Victims Sangharsh Samiti, said that when the district administration reached the authorities, they stopped listening to the complaints. According to the chairman board, 6 thousand 800 bighas of land in Sripur, Haripur and Paschim Kushaha of Sunsari were covered with sand so that they could not be used due to the flood of Koshi . At that time, the government gave red, yellow and green identity cards to the victims. 3600 bighas in the highly affected red area, 2200 bighas in the medium yellow area and 1000 bighas in the third green area were filled with sand. According to him, at that time, the then government had released 1 billion 68 million rupees to the account of Sunsari District Disaster Relief Committee. Out of the available funds, 1 billion 34 crore rupees were distributed and the distribution was stopped. More than half have not received relief after the government stopped the distribution. He said, 'Now the situation of 7 thousand 563 families affected by the Koshi flood is the same.' After all the houses were swept away by the flood, they are now living in mud houses by keeping the pile of sand. The government had announced immediate relief of 20,000 rupees to all the families affected by

and 30 cuft of wood to build a house and two plots of land. All the victims got a cash relief of Rs 20,000 at that time . The Sangharsh Committee chairman said that out of 3,770 families whose houses were completely damaged, 1,970 families have received firewood, but 1,800 families have not yet received it. 1 thousand 433 families were squatters in the flood-affected areas. According to him, 950 people got two plots of land. The rest haven't got it yet . According to the Chairman, at that time, the government had given compensation of 2 lakh rupees per bigha of the fields in the red area which had been cut by the river and the sand had reached five feet, 1 lakh rupees per bigha in the yellow area which had less sand and 50 thousand rupees per bigha in the green area where the crops had been washed away . The compensation was paid at the rate of 2 lakh 50 thousand rupees per bigha of the original damage. At that time, they said that they would give ration for nine months, but they only gave them for six months and they gave them 30 cubic feet of wood and 20,000 rupees to build a house. The chairman said that the compensation of two crops to the landowners of the red area was 29,200 per bigha, but only 14,000 was given. Although it was decided to provide wood to 3370 families at the rate of 30 kilos per family, only 1528 families have received wood facility . The chairman said, "Due to the lack of irrigation, cultivation has not been possible even in the places where the sand has been removed. Even though the government said it would remove the sand, neither the sand was removed nor the cost was paid."