The 2024 Jivitputrika tragedy refers to the drowning of at least 46 people, most of whom were children, in rivers and bodies of water that had flooded with ongoing torrential rainfall on 26 September 2024. The deaths occurred across 15 districts in

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

located in

eastern India East India is a region consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The states of Bihar and West Bengal lie on the Indo-Gangetic plain. Jharkhan ...

during the festivities of Jivitputrika.

Background

Jivitputrika is a three-day-long Ancient Hindu festival which is celebrated from the seventh to ninth lunar day of Krishna-Paksha in

Ashvin Ashvin or Ashwin or Ashwan (; ; Malay/ Indonesian: ''Aswin''; Thai: ''Asawin''), also known as Aswayuja, is the seventh month of the lunisolar Hindu calendar, the solar Tamil calendar, where it is known as Aippasi, and the solar Indian nation ...

month primarily in the Indian states of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

and

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

. The festival involves a tradition of mothers

fasting Fasting is the act of refraining from eating, and sometimes drinking. However, from a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (before "breakfast"), or to the metabolic sta ...

without water for well-being of their sons, after which they travel to bodies of water where they bathe, immerse the branches of sacred fig tree in a river or stream, and put a flower garland on the neck of their child who often accompanies them to the water. Concurrently with Jivitputrika festivities in 2024, significant monsoon rainfall impacted multiple regions of India, causing widespread flooding and the swelling of rivers and other bodies of water such as the Kopili,

Barak Barak ( or ; ; Tiberian Hebrew: '' Bārāq''; "lightning") was a ruler of Ancient Israel. As military commander in the biblical Book of Judges, Barak, with Deborah, from the Tribe of Ephraim, the prophet and fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israe ...

, and Kushiyara. Hundreds of thousands of civilians were displaced by flooding and hundreds more were killed as a result of flooding.

Tragedy

The Bihar Disaster Management Authority reported on 26 September 2024 that at least 46 people had been killed after drowning or being swept away in swollen rivers and bodies of water while engaging in rituals. Of those killed, 37 were children and seven were women. Victims were reported in the districts of

Arwal Arwal town is the administrative headquarters of Arwal district in Bihar state of India. It was earlier part of Jehanabad district. The district as formed to control the naxalism in the area. District was formed from the area of two near ...

Aurangabad Aurangabad (), officially renamed as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in 2023, is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a ...

Buxar Buxar is a nagar parishad city in the state of Bihar, India, sharing border with Balia and Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh. It is the headquarters of the eponymous Buxar district, as well as the headquarters of the community development ...

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and West Champaran, Gopalganj, Kaimur,

Muzaffarpur Muzaffarpur () is a city located in Muzaffarpur district on the banks of Burhi Gandak River, Burhi Gandak river in the Tirhut division of the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Tirhut division, the Muzaffarpur distri ...

Nalanda Nalanda (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) was a renowned Buddhism, Buddhist ''mahavihara'' (great monastery) in medieval Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha (modern-day Bihar), eastern India. Widely considered to be am ...

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

, Rohtas,

Samastipur Samastipur is a City and Municipal Corporation in Bihar, India. It is the headquarter of Samastipur district and comes under Darbhanga division. The Burhi Gandak River flows through the city. It is one of the five railway divisions of ECR, H ...

, Saran, Siwan, and Vaishali. Aurangabad district reported eight deaths, the highest total as of 26 September. Seven drowned in Kaimur district, four of whom were teenagers. In Saran, Kalyanpur village reported five deaths while

Chhapra Chhapra (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Chaparā'') is a city and headquarters of the Saran District in the Indian state of Bihar. It is situated near the junction of the Ghaghara River and the Ganges River. Chhapra grew in importance as a river-based mar ...

reported the drownings of five children. Motihari in East Champaran reported five drownings in the Somvati River by the Kalyanpur block. Five drowned in Patna, four of whom were women, and four girls were swept away and drowned in the

Sone River Sone River, also spelt Son River, is a perennial river located in central India. It originates near Amarkantak Hill in Pendra (Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district), Chhattisgarh and finally merges with the Ganges river near Maner in Patna, Biha ...

. A women and her child drowned together in a pond in

Vrindavan Vrindavan (; ), also spelt Vrindaban and Brindaban, is a historical city in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located in the Braj, Braj Bhoomi region and holds religious importance for Hindus who believe that Krishna, one of ...

Responses

The Bihar State Government announced that 400,000 rupees (US$4,784) would be given to the families of victims as compensation. District Magistrate of Aurangabad Srikant Shastri stated that while Bihar state had prepared staff to manage and oversee state-designated

ghat Ghat (), a term used in the Indian subcontinent, to refer to the series of steps leading down to a body of water or wharf, such as a bathing or cremation place along the banks of a river or pond, the Ghats in Varanasi, Dhobi Ghat or the Aap ...

s of bodies of water where Jivitputrika festivities were assigned to, he stated that drownings occurred in non-designated bodies of water by local ghats. District Magistrate of Saran Aman Samir insisted that all celebrators go to designated ghats for festivities to prevent potential drownings. An anonymous Bihar Disaster Management Authority official said that many of the participants had ignored the dangerously elevated water levels, resulting in the tragedy. Many families of the deceased blamed disaster management organizations for not deploying crowd management staff by any of the locations where victims drowned.

Rashtriya Janata Dal The Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD; translation: National People's Party) is an Indian political party, mainly based in the state of Bihar. The party was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav. The party's support base has traditionally been Other ...

spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwary expressed disdain towards the state government for not arranging emergency staff and resources to all ghats where festivities were taking place instead of only deploying to state-designated locations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jivitputrika tragedy, 2024 2024 disasters in India Deaths by drowning in India 2020s in Bihar September 2024 in India 2024 in religion Floods in Bihar 2024 floods in Asia 21st-century Hinduism Accidental child deaths