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Landslides and floods triggered by heavy rains in several Indian states have claimed nearly 30 lives. The incessant downpour has also paralysed life in Mumbai
At least 30 people have died and several are missing as heavy rains lashed several Indian states in the past few days, raising the death toll to over 300 in barely a month since the onset of the monsoon, officials said on July 4. Most of the deaths have occurred because of landslides, collapsed houses and capsized boats.
At least 14 people were killed in the eastern state of Orissa and another three rain-related deaths were reported from the southern state of Kerala since July 3, news agencies reported. Orissa's southern coastal Rayagada district accounted for 13 of the fatalities when houses collapsed following heavy rains.
Another nine people died in Orissa's neighbouring state of Jharkhand when a boat carrying 25 people capsized on the Kanhar river on the night of July 2.
The torrential rains submerged large areas in the three states and caused rivers to swell and flow above the danger-mark. Widespread damage to crops and property was also reported from these states. In Kerala alone, the crop loss so far has been estimated at Rs 40 crore.
In the southern state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) two people were washed away in flood waters, 10 fishermen were missing and thousands were displaced as hundreds of villages were inundated. "Four floodgates of a reservoir were also swept away in the swirling rain waters," said VN Vishnu, administrator of Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh.
Navy boats and helicopters had been pressed into service to rescue marooned people from rooftops and also to drop food, medicine and water packets, authorities said. "We have evacuated 15,000 people from waterlogged villages in the district to the safety of relief camps," Vishnu said.
The authorities in north coastal AP have been put on alert following heavy rains in the region. The state's Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy said people from the vulnerable areas would be evacuated to safer places.
In neighbouring Karnataka, six people, including four women, were killed in a landslide in the coffee-growing Kodagu district, police said.
Incessant rains since the weekend have also brought life to a grinding halt in India's commercial capital Mumbai for the second day running. The city has reported one death due to the rains. Rainwater swamped several low-lying areas in the city, causing disruption of road and rail traffic. Domestic flights were running behind schedule due to poor visibility and flooding of the runway at the airport.
Schools and colleges were also shut and emergency workers flushed muddy waters from submerged streets. The city's 150-year-old drainage system failed to tackle about 10 cm (4 inches) of rains over the past 24 hours and several areas remained under knee-deep water.
Emergency workers used sticks and crowbars to prise open clogged manholes and gutters to allow rainwater to pass. Municipal authorities were on alert fearing a repeat of last year when the city had witnessed its worst-ever floods.
Eight of India's 28 states -- including southern Andhra Pradesh, northern Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and central Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh -- have received heavy rains over the last few days. The bad weather was caused by a depression over the east coast and a revival of the June-September annual monsoon rains which had hit a lean patch, leading to a dry spell across large parts of the subcontinent.
Meanwhile, at least 17 people died in Pakistan after flooding in the north-eastern district of Swat, police say. Police say a river burst its banks, submerging houses late on Sunday. Five people were rescued.
Also read: Floods hit 1.5 million in South Asia
Source: Reuters, July 4,
2006
www.itv.com, July 4,
2006
www.bbcnews.com, July 4,
2006
Agencies, July 3, 2006
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