Floods, landslides kill dozens as monsoon rains lash northern, eastern India
- At least 50 people killed and thousands displaced from their homes as rains overwhelm villages, triggering floods and landslides
- Floods have disrupted electricity and water supply, damaged road infrastructure, with rescue teams deployed to help stranded residents
The rains overwhelmed hundreds of villages, sweeping away houses and leaving residents stranded as rescue crews raced to evacuate survivors.
Earlier this month the federal weather office had predicted that India was likely to receive an average amount of rain in August and September, pointing to overall good crop yields in Asia’s third-biggest economy that relies on farming to boost growth and generate jobs.
Farming contributes around 15 per cent to India’s US$2.7 trillion economy while sustaining more than half the population of 1.3 billion.
Heavy showers followed by landslides and flooding in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh over the past three days killed at least 36 people, a state government official said.
In the neighbouring mountainous state of Uttarakhand, an official government release said that four were dead and 13 were missing due to continuous rainfall.
“We have deployed choppers to rescue people who are stuck in remote areas due to rain related incidents. The rescue operation is happening on full swing,” said Ranjit Kumar Sinha, an official in Uttarakhand’s disaster management department.