South Asia Monsoon Floods Uproot Millions

Death Toll Rises To Over 289 In North India And Bangladesh, Two Million Forced To Flee Torrential Rains

(AP)  Torrential overnight rains compounded the misery of 2 million marooned Indian villagers, but the seasonal flooding was expected to ease in the next few days after claiming at least 289 lives across South Asia, officials said Sunday.

Helicopters dropped food and the army helped civil authorities carry out rescue operations. They also brought aid to hundreds of thousands of people who had escaped to high ground near national highways and railway tracks in India's Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states last week. Most villagers took their cows, buffaloes and goats to makeshift shelters.

At least 39 deaths were reported in Bangladesh and 21 in India over the weekend, raising Bangladesh's overall death toll to 120 and India's to 169, according to government figures available on Sunday.

Some 19 million people have been driven from their homes in the two countries in recent days. The South Asian monsoon season runs from June to September as the rains work their way across the subcontinent, a deluge that scatters floods and landslides across the region and kills hundreds of people every year.

As a rain-free Sunday saw major rivers receding in the worst-hit districts in India, doctors and paramedics started supplying medicine to people to prevent diarrhea, skin allergies and other waterborne diseases, said S. K. Gupta, an Indian army officer.

Army doctors treated 235 people suffering from waterborne diseases in makeshift camps near Gorakhpur, a town 250 kilometers (155 miles) southeast of Uttar Pradesh's state capital, Lucknow, said Gupta, who is commanding a unit involved in relief operations.

"Our effort is to prevent the outbreak of an epidemic," he told The Associated Press.

Major rivers have also started receding in worst-hit eastern and central Bangladesh with monsoon rains weakening, the Flood Forecasting and Warning Center said Sunday in a bulletin in Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital.

In India, an elderly couple and two of their relatives, who refused to leave their village, were crushed to death when their home collapsed on them on Saturday night in northern Uttar Pradesh state, Surendra Srivastava, a police spokesman, said on Sunday.

"These four people, all in 70s, were living on the rooftop of their home," he said. Their village, Karonda, is nearly 60 kilometers (40 miles) southeast of Lucknow, the state capital.

"The Saturday night rains (in Uttar Pradesh state) have worsened the flood situation as rising river waters have entered villages forcing people to move to safer places," Srivastava told The Associated Press.

At least 11 people died in Uttar Pradesh state, mostly in house collapses, on Saturday, he said.

Another 10 deaths were reported in eastern Bihar state, said Manoj Srivastava, the state disaster management secretary.

Ganeshganj was a thriving timber market town until last week. It's under water now with the nearby Ghaghra River breaching its embankments.

"It's the fifth day today (Sunday) that my shop is closed. We are praying to God to save us from this calamity," said Maiku Lal, sitting close to his flooded kiosk.

Helicopters continued dropping packets of flour, salt, candles and match boxes to marooned villagers in India's Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states, officials said.

Floodwaters were receding in eastern Bihar state where nearly 10 million people in 19 of the state's 36 districts have been affected, said Manoj Srivastava, the disaster management secretary. The weather has cleared with no rains over the past three days in the state.

"Once road links are restored, the flow of relief material will naturally improve," said Manoj Srivastava.

People started returning to their homes in India's northeastern state of Assam where nearly 200,000 people have been living in government and makeshift camps since last week. Floods in the state have eased as it has not rained there since Thursday.

Floodwaters have battered 38 out of 64 districts in Bangladesh, a delta nation of more than 150 million people.

Fakhruddin Ahmed, head of Bangladesh's military-backed interim government, visited the northwestern district of Sirajganj on Saturday. Despite the devastation, he said the government had enough food and medicine to distribute and foreign assistance wasn't yet needed.

One person looking for that help was 45-year-old Aleya Begum, who took shelter on an embankment with more than 50 other families after their homes washed away in Pabna, 75 miles north of the capital, Dhaka.

She said the group was short of drinking water.

"I've lost everything. We need help from the government to survive," Begum said.

Low-lying areas around Dhaka were under neck-deep water, and many residents were using boats to travel around.

So far this year, some 14 million people in India and 5 million in Bangladesh have been displaced by flooding, according to government figures.

[dargay]

Condolences to Indians, Nepalese and Bangladeshis. My Pakistan suffered similar monsoon flooding and devastation in June/July.

[blackbug99]

Certainly it's sad for them, but this isn't like a stray hurricane. It's happened at the same time every year for thousands of years. ***, prepare for it...How hard is that?

[hawksprings]

It's Bush's fault.

...

[rushlimpdrug]

"South Asia Monsoon Floods Uproot Millions"

Again?

[nothappyatall]

"last year more than 1,000 people died, most from drowning, landslides or house collapses. "

Must be that mercifull god at work again!
Prayers dont work stinkingrick;

www.evilbible.com

This is whathappens with overpopulation and moving people into flood zones.

[wfbdem]

By the way newster1, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ tells us to love one another, and love our neighbors.

Posted by singinrick at 11:04 PM : Aug 04, 2007


And what better way to show your love than by killing 600000 of your fellow man.

All religion is the problem. Both sides are nothing but narrowminded fanatics.

[brutusaone]

Two helicopters dropping flour and salt into the flood waters, that is supposed to feed 7 million affected people.....great preparedness by the Indian Government for floods that occur every year!!!!.Reminds me of the Tsunami operations carried out by the Indian Government. High time the Aid agencies started asking questions where all the millions go?????