World Vision's Kit Shangpliang explains why his country is in such deep water lately.

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In India, this year's floods are the worst in decades, claiming the lives of 1200 people, injuring thousands and forcing a staggering 20 million out of their homes. Why? Some point fingers at climate change - neglecting the fact that India's rapid urbanization might have contributed more to the recent flooding.

According to the report of the UN Population Fund, by 2030, over 40 percent (about 600 million) of India's population will be living in urban and semi-urban areas compared to about 28 percent (about 336 million) now. Twenty years ago the Indian urban population stood at 23 percent (about 230 million), a climb of 5 percent or 106 million people in 20 years time.

Over the years, the affluent urban population needed protection from floods, therefore, embankments were built to protect towns and cities.

The floodwaters that eclipsed villages situated along the big towns of Darbhanga in Bihar, Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh and Dibrugarh in Assam, can be seen as a result of these embankments diverting the gushing water into the path of the villages.

Last week I traveled to Bihar's flooded district of Darbhanga with a World Vision relief team to distribute food in far-flung villages. There, the people told me that floods were never heard of, before the seventies.

"In 1975 they built this embankment to protect the town and since then, we have experienced flooding every alternative year if not every year," said Parmeshwar Paswan, a middle-aged village leader from Rampati.

Some of the elderly in Rampati village also told me that in the past, floods came up to calf level. "The floods stayed for a few hours and then joined the rivers but these days it can be deeper than 12 feet and stay for months," said another village leader, Nathuni Rai.

Elders remember the days when they enjoyed so much rainfall and still escaped the floods. "Before rainfall was high, but we did not experience floods - now rainfall is low, days are hot and we experience severe flooding", said Rai.

There is no denying that the plight of the rural poor is grave. Children are denied proper food, medical care, education and other basic rights.

As problems of unemployment, economic poverty and food crisis, plus limited protection from natural disasters like these floods, become more intense, the pressure to migrate from villages into urban areas becomes more aggressive.

This leads to a cycle: higher migration rate from rural to urban areas leads to urban growth and fewer incentives for maintaining a village life. This impact can be seen in other countries besides India - Mexico, for instance.

In response to this, the Indian policymakers hoped to retard urban growth with the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme enacted in 2005 to provide 100 days of employment every year to a member of every household in some 350 districts.

While in most regions, the rate of urbanization is showing a decline - economies like India have witnessed the opposite. The population of towns and cities in developing countries like India is set to double in the space of a generation, while the urban population in the developed world is expected to grow relatively lower.

In comparison to the urban population growth rate, the world's rural population is expected to decrease by some 28 million between 2005 and 2006.

Cities in drier region like New Delhi will see a major impact of climate change, leading to poor water supply, sanitation problems, and higher precipitation.

So is this the end of rural living? Not for sixty six year old Muneshwar Paswan who was born in Rampati and will breath his last here. Yet many of his children are saying living in the village is not practical for them. For most villagers, not knowing the harsh realities of urban living, the grass seems greener in town.

Floodwaters still surround Rampati village. There is food crisis, waterborne diseases and unsafe drinking water and the hope of getting in or out of the village is only through small boats. World Vision hired local people to row the boats and deliver food aid to these isolated villages.

Last week, thousands of people were still trapped in adjoining villages around Rampati with minimal food and water, or none at all. For many villages whose houses have collapsed, crops have been damaged and most of their belongings washed away - the future remains bleak.

Villagers told World Vision staff that help has not come to the village, even days after the flooding. The time taken to reach the village and other challenges explained why was this so.

"We have lived on this embankment for seven days and children have not had food for three days", said one mother.

Villagers of Rampati still ask a question whether they can co-exist with the floods. The option of migration is opened but will it provide a lasting solution?

As the waters recede and life limps back to normal, the community's future depends on their and their children's resilience.

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World Vision continues to deliver relief aid in flood-affected areas in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, India, as well as many districts in Bangladesh. Loss of livelihood is of major concern across flood-affected regions. In the medium term, World Vision is planning to assist farmers with restoring crops and livestock, as well as engaging communities in rebuilding houses, schools and clinics.

Kitkupar is a communications coordinator for World Vision India. He is available for interview about the situation in Bihar: +91 98630 27061

For more information on World Vision's response to the South Asia monsoons: www.wvasiapacific.org