Over
five million people hit by floods in northern India
Indian
officials say floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains have affected
more than five million people in over a dozen districts of the
northern Bihar state, as rain-swollen rivers burst their banks.
1
September, 2013
"Major
rivers, including the Ganga, Sone, Budhi Gandak, Kosi and Gandak, are
not showing receding trend so far, a bad news for hundreds of
thousands of people affected by floods," an official with the
Central Water Commission said on condition of anonymity on Sunday.
Reports
from Bhagalpur, Buxar, Begusarai and Munger, Khagaria districts
indicate that the situation has taken a turn for the worse, and the
Ganga River has wrought havoc in over 1,000 villages.
"The
flood water submerged the national highway at several places,"
an official from the India’s National Disaster Management Authority
said.
Bihar
Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said the necessary
instructions to prevent flooding have been given to officials.
"The
government has deployed many joint teams of National Disaster
Response Force (NDRF) and state disaster response," he said.
Meanwhile,
flash floods have displaced hundreds of people, covered farms and
surrounded houses in Uttar Pradesh state.
The
floods have washed away roads and made it difficult for people to
communicate.
“Our
house and our sugarcane field have been submerged in water. We have
to reach our schools on boat. Some people have left their homes and
gone,” Sangeeta Yadav, a schoolgirl, said.
“We
are facing problems but we are trying to manage. We are left with
nothing, as all our farms are flooded. Now we are using up our
savings,” Ram Jhiavan, resident of a village affected by floods,
said.
Monsoon
season generally lasts from June to September in India and is marked
by heavy rains that are vital for the country’s agriculture.
But
the rains often lead to widespread flooding of rivers, affect
millions of people, devastate crops and homes, and trigger outbreaks
of diseases such as diarrhea and dysentery.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.