Indian military responds to floods affecting millions in northeast

India, Jun 18, 2008

As recently arrived monsoon rains continued to drench northeastern India Wednesday (June 18), the country's military was called in for rescue operations in several states where millions have been affected and hundreds of thousands left homeless by the floods. Although it is difficult to determine an accurate death count, at least 60 people have been killed across the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Orissa and Jharkhand since the flooding began on Saturday (June 14). While officials in Assam said the floodwaters were receding Wednesday after the extreme northeast received no overnight rains, the army carried out rescue operations, ferrying people to higher ground, according to the Times of India. More than 100 temporary camps have been set up in the state, housing thousands of people who were displaced when the Brahmaputra River burst its banks in several areas. The Brahmaputra remained above danger levels in some areas Wednesday and the government issued a health alert warning of the potential for outbreaks of waterborne diseases, the Indo-Asian News Service reported. In West Bengal state, the government called the army to East and West Midnapore districts, where four people drowned Wednesday and one person was killed by a falling tree, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI). The two districts had registered a record 27.6 inches (700 mm) of rainfall in a three-day period. Their annual rainfall averages 63 inches (1,600 mm), PTI attributed weather officials as saying. According to PTI, 53,000 people had been rescued from the flooding and about 40,000 were being sheltered in relief camps in the state. In neighboring Orissa state, about 1 million people were stranded by the heavy rains and at least two drownings were reported, according to Agence France-Presse. Four rivers are overflowing in the state. The army was also called in to Jharkhand state Wednesday, where about 2.5 million people have been affected by flooding. The floods have disrupted electricity and interrupted road and rail communication and transportation in many areas in the northeast, as well as parts of southwestern and northwestern India that have already been hit by the rains. South Asia's monsoon season typically runs from June through September and affects millions of people. Last year's season was particularly harsh, with some 57 million affected and 3,300 killed, most of them in India and Bangladesh.