Floods leave 99 people dead whilst 3 million people flee their homes

New Delhi (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Monsoon rains and subsequent floods have created an increasingly dramatic situation in north-eastern India. So far the official death toll stands at 99 whilst 3 million people have had to flee their homes swept away or swamped by the overflowing rivers. "These are the worse floods in years for this season," said the Chief Minister of the state of Assam, the worst-affected area.

Flood-related deaths have already passed the 100 mark (in one incident alone 40 people died when the boat with which they were trying to escape sunk). The number of missing is also over 100. The number of homeless now stands at over 2 million.

In the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh state, landslides and heavy rains have made the situation worse by washing away bridges and blocking roads. Rescue operations have been made nearly impossible. Many dams have collapsed flooding nearby valleys. Because of heavy monsoon rains the Brahmaputra River broke its banks and rose 80 cm above the alarm level in Kaziranga National Park and more than 150 cm around Majuli Island, the largest fluvial island in the world, which is now completely cut off. Many villages are flooded and the main roads and rail lines are impassable virtually isolating the entire state from the rest of the country.

In neighbouring Bhutan, a breach in the dam on Tsatitsu Lake has exacerbated the situation swelling all the rivers of the area. The main highway linking Assam to the rest of India has been flooded stranding thousands of trucks and vehicles.

The Indian army has set up camps in various parts of the region to provide shelter for the homeless population. Military helicopters have also rescued people in villages and cities, in one case saving 350 children stranded on the rooftop of a school which had been flooded when a river broke an embankment.

• india
• floods
• monsoon