Over 110 killed in India after heavy rain

DELHI • At least 113 people

have died across northern India after five days of heavy monsoon rainfall, reportedly the worst in 25 years, unleashed devastating floods.

Torrential rain began to fall across the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar on Thursday, submerging several cities. On Monday, officials in

Uttar Pradesh said 93 people

had died in three days from drowning, the collapse of homes and snake bites.

Dozens of people were killed in Bihar, where rescue workers used boats to reach residents trapped by waistdeep flooding in Patna, the state capital, home to some two million people.

A major city hospital was inundated, with water filling wards where patients still lay. Authorities also evacuated 900 inmates from a prison in Ballia district, police officer Santosh Verma said.

Deaths were also recorded in Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Experts believe such extreme weather events are intensifying due to climate change, and that India will suffer heavier, more erratic rainfall with more frequent floods in coming years.

The non-profit Indian Meteorological Society (IMS) said that the ongoing deluge would ensure this September was the wettest in more than a century.

The Indian government’s Meteorological Department said that monsoon rainfall was 10 per cent above average this year — its highest level for a quarter of a century.

Monsoon season, which accounts for around 75 per cent of annual rainfall, usually lasts between June and September, but this year is predicted to last until mid-october. Its start was delayed this year, with June

rainfall 33 per cent below the

long-term average, according to the IMS. This contributed to drought in the state of Maharashtra with 20,000 villages reported to have a severe drinking water crisis.

Much of India was then lashed by excessive rainfall from July onwards, causing floods in several areas.

More than 160 people died in Kerala and Karnataka in August, with deaths also recorded in Odisha and Assam.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts an annual increase in temperature in South Asia

of 3.3 C by 2100. The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development predicts monsoon rainfall will increase by 25 per cent over the next 100 years.

“A study by the Council of Energy, Environment and Water shows in India mean precipitation is likely to increase in future,” said Dr. Hem Dholakia, a senior research associate. “Climate change will also make rainfall more erratic with longer dry spells and a higher risk of floods.”