A tale of two Bihars
The state is flood- and drought-hit at the same time, complicating response and relief.
Rahimbigha, nestled in the foothills of Khakhaunda Pahad in Bihar, is a picturesque and mostly peaceful village in the Nawada district of Bihar. Especially when compared to its Maoism-hit couÂsin across the mountains, Koderma in Jharkhand. But every day, the women of this largely Dalit hamlet have to make a serpentine pilgrimage across its barren landscape. They are on their way to collect water from an abandoned stone quarry as the hand-pump the government installed in their village has run dry. This is because the water table has sunk dramatically after a poor
