Floods swamp eastern India, 1.3m. displaced
GUWAHATI, India, June 29, 2012 (AFP) - Torrential monsoon rains triggered floods which swamped villages in eastern India and forced at least 1.3 million people to leave their homes for higher ground, officials said on Friday.
The death toll from flood-related accidents in worst-hit Assam rose to 31 with five more deaths reported overnight from the northeastern state, regional Agriculture Minister Nilamoni Sen Deka told AFP.
An estimated 1.3 million people have been displaced from their homes due to the flooding, Deka said in Guwahati, Assam's largest city.
“We have opened makeshift relief camps for the displaced,” he said as 21 of Assam's 27 districts faced floods which began last weekend when annual monsoon rains lashed the tea and oil-rich state bordering Bangladesh.
In the adjoining northeastern Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, pounding
rains brought flash floods, local officials said by telephone. There were no casualties reported from Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China, and Manipur which is adjacent to Myanmar.
“The situation is very critical as floods have destroyed property and crops,” Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki told AFP from capital Itanagar.
In Manipur, state disaster management official A. Singh said major rivers were “flowing menacingly” above danger marks.
“We are taking all precautionary measures to ensure safety of the locals,” Singh said.