Four killed, six missing in monsoon floods in India
Torrential downpours and heavy monsoon flooding have left four people dead and several others missing in western India, an official says.
“Four people died after being swept away in rain waters since Saturday morning. Six others are missing,” said Pankaj Kumar, a senior government official in Gujarat State, adding that India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was searching for survivors.
Kumar said that the western state had received more than 25 millimeters of rain and as many as 24 dams were overflowing or on the verge of overflowing.
Traffic on major rail networks and dozens of highways in Gujarat was disrupted by floodwaters, and more than 120 villages suffered power outages, according to reports.
Local officials said the NDRF teams, accompanied by India’s military, had rescued more than 2,000 people from the worst-hit areas and relocated them to safe locations.
The Indian Meteorological Department predicts that heavy rain would batter Gujarat for another two days, especially in coastal areas.
Other states, including Bihar in India’s east and Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in the country’s remote northeast, have also been affected by serious flooding over the past days.
Heavy downpours in Assam alone have left nearly half a million people displaced and more than two dozen others dead.
Flooding and landslides triggered by torrential monsoons claim scores of lives in India every year. Monsoons also hit neighboring Nepal and Bangladesh.
No comments