Original residents of the village of Teghari (also in Santoshpura GP), these 18 families were displaced by a flood about 25 years ago. At that time, they resided on the banks of the river. Once the river ate into their lands, they migrated and settled in between a cluster of trees on government land in Lokhnathpur.

The residents of this village belong to the Santhal tribe. All the houses in this hamlet were damaged by the flood this year. During the flood, they moved to the neighbouring village of Dhitpura and stayed there in the school till the water receded and they could return to what was remaining of their homes. The families here are entirely dependent on wage work for their survival. Since the small kuccha road is full of slush and marsh, the children have stopped walking to school after the flood. They cannot approach the government for homes as they do not have any “pattas” for the land where they live.

The people of this village say that they are scared of the rains and are unable to sleep when it starts raining. The fear of another flood has kept them awake through many stormy nights after the devastation on the 6th of July 2007. The only material items the families are left with are the sheets of tarpaulin and the buckets that they received as part of the flood response programme of Unnayan and Oxfam.