ABP Journo loses shirt (and pants), but gets story and CM’s praise

A rope, a reporter and a camera brought hope to residents of a village in Navgajhia area of Bhagalpur district of Bihar, and drama to TV news watchers all around the country. ABP News correspondent Prakash Kumar while covering the flood affected areas of Bhagalpur reached Navgajhia where the Bihar administration failed to provide relief supply.

Kumar met a girl whose family was stranded in the village. The reporter took off his shirt and trousers to wade through the water. Kumar along with his cameraperson — whose state of dressing or undressing is not known — reached the village and met the families who were left a few resources and almost no drinking water.

And guess what? It caught the attention of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Within hours, Sushasan Babu responded to the ABP news correspondent’s report and alerted the administration.

Applauding Prakash’s ‘fearless reporting’, Nitish Kumar said that the village was flooded in the evening before it was reported. While Kumar has been criticized for his government’s poor flood management this year, he seized this opportunity to inform that “the administration has been alerted” and relief will reach the village latest by tomorrow.

Nitish Kumar also cautioned about ‘increasing fashion of desk reporting.’ “If someone does field reporting like the ABP reporter did…then it is impossible to ignore it,” said Kumar.