Koshi Floods Victims Demand Abolition of Tax, Activists Extend Support

Patna: Koshi flood victims fighting for their demand of tax abolition were supported by dozens of activists including Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patekar. Moved by the struggle of hundreds of people living within the embankments of Koshi river in Bihar’s Supaul district, social activists and leaders associated with people’s movement have written a letter to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, urging him to listen to their demands and fulfil them. 

Mahender Yadav, president of Koshi Nav Nirman Manch (KNNM) told NewsClick that prominent activists including Medha Ptekar, Prafulla Samantra, P Chinnaiya, Ramkrishnam Raj, Lingraj Azad and Kavita Srivastav have extended. In a letter to Nitish Kumar, they have requested him to meet representatives of Koshi flood victims.

Activists have also appealed to state chief secretary to assess the real damage and devastation caused by annual flood of Koshi river that badly affects those living within the embankments.

Last week, the Koshi flood victims were disappointed when the Bihar Chief Minister's Office in Patna refused to accept the application of about 3,800 farmers demanding a tax abolition law. KNNM was also not allowed to meet the chief minister to share their grievances and demands. Yadav said that the officials at the CM’s office clearly told them that they will not accept the farmers’ application despite repeated requests. 

Shocked by the apathy of the government, the flood victims plan to launch a civil disobedience movement to put pressure on the state government. They have already launched a campaign to mobilise support from each of the hundreds of villages that have been trapped within the embankment. 

Seven teams of KNNM, led by local villagers, have collected applications from farmers, who are all Koshi flood victims, demanding freedom from tax. 

There are 380 villages within the Koshi embankment on the Indian side and 34 villages in Nepal. They were given rehabilitation on the embankments but the 'land for land' policy was not adopted for them. They were supposed to live in the rehabilitation sites and cultivate their land located within the embankments. The KNNM recently concluded a long march in Koshi region to mobilise farmers, who have been forced to live within the embankment for years and have become victims of floods year after year.

“The land between the two embankments is full of silt, making farming impossible. Life is full of challenges and difficult. In view of it, farmers have been demanding freedom from tax and cess collected by the government from them,” Yadav said. According to him, land is cultivable only six months of the year when there is no flood. Most of the farmers and workers were affected and displaced by the construction of the embankment, but they are made to pay tax for the silted land as well as the produce.

Also read: Koshi Flood Victims Threaten to Launch Civil Disobedience for Tax Abolition