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NEW DELHI, July 12: Heavy rains over the weekend aggravated flooding in India, Bangladesh and Nepal, leaving 4.5 million people homeless. Indian and Nepalese authorities have called in army personnel to help rescue hundreds of thousands of marooned people.
India accounted for the bulk of flood-related deaths with the toll touching 99. The eastern and northeastern parts of the country, particularly the states of Assam, Bihar and West Bengal, have been most severely affected.
The floods have so far displaced close to three million people in the northeast. The deteriorating flood situation in Bihar and Assam was raised during discussions on Monday in the lower house of India's parliament, where opposition MPs demanded the government send a federal team to ascertain the damage and oversee relief operations.
"The state government (of Bihar) has completely failed in providing relief," MP Sushil Kumar Modi said. "Diseases are spreading. Water has inundated even the homes of district magistrates of Saharsa and Madhubani district," he said.
BD BRACES FOR WORSE: Bangladesh too was in the grip of floods and bracing for worse after large parts of the north were submerged and 1.5 million people marooned by rising waters.
Eight people died at the weekend from flood-related causes, police said. Forecasters said they expected more low-lying areas to be inundated over the next few days.
The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre in Dhaka said heavy monsoon rains and gushing water from streams and smaller rivers were likely to cause more flooding in the north eastern Sylhet and Sunamganj districts and the northern Netrokona district. It added that all major rivers were flowing above the danger level and that the Surma river in the northeast was rising sharply.
46 KILLED IN NEPAL: At least 46 people have been killed and thousands left homeless following flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains that have swamped large swathes of southern Nepal, an official said on Monday.
The districts affected include Makawanpur, Bara and Rautahat in the south, Sarlahi, Ramechap, Dhanusa and Saptari in the southeast, Achham in the far west and Ilam in the far east, a home ministry official said. - AFP
