Death toll rises to 175 in India, Nepal and Bangladesh floods

Three days of heavy rainfall, flash floods and landslides have left hundreds of people homeless and without food. Officials have warned that the death toll could rise as the extent of the damage becomes clear.

The Red Cross has warned that tens of thousands of flood survivors in Indias remote northeast are at risk of contracting diseases such as malaria and Japanese encephalitis.
Reuters

The Red Cross has warned that tens of thousands of flood survivors in Indias remote northeast are at risk of contracting diseases such as malaria and Japanese encephalitis.

At least 175 people have died and thousands have fled their homes as monsoon floods swept across Nepal, India and Bangladesh, officials said Monday, warning the toll could rise as the extent of the damage becomes clear.

Three days of relentless downpours sparked flash floods and landslides that have killed at least 80 people in Nepal, 73 across northern and eastern India and 22 in Bangladesh.

Around 200,000 people are living in emergency camps in Assam in northeast India, which suffers frequent flooding during the annual monsoon rains.

Another 15,000 have had to leave their homes in the eastern state of Bihar, which borders Nepal and where one official said seven rivers were at danger levels.

In the mountainous northern state of Himachal Pradesh, emergency workers were scouring the area hit by a massive landslide that swept two passenger buses into a deep gorge on Sunday, killing at least 46 people.

In the neighbouring state of Uttarakhand – which also borders Nepal – three people were killed in a landslide late Sunday triggered by heavy rains, local police official Ajay Joshi said.

Reuters

Monsoon rains which start in June and continue through September are important for farm-dependent Nepal, but they also cause havoc each year.

Police said over 48,000 homes have been totally submerged by the floods across Nepal's southern planes.

As emergency workers struggled to reach far-flung areas, the country's home ministry said another 36 people were missing, presumed dead, revising down an earlier count after more bodies were found.

The Nepal Red Cross warned that shortages of safe drinking water and food could create a humanitarian crisis in the impoverished Himalayan country.

"In many parts of the country there is a scarcity of safe drinking water creating a high risk of health hazards," spokesman Dibya Raj Poudel said.

"Several villages and settlements are unreachable. Telecommunications, mobile phones are still not working so it is difficult to give a full assessment." 

A local volunteer in Saptari district – one of the worst affected areas – said the water level was receding but many people were still stranded on higher ground.

"Water level has decreased a little bit but families still cannot return home. They are taking shelter in sheds. What people need now is clean drinking water and food," volunteer Dipak Kumar Yadav said.

AFP

Up to 700,000 people had been marooned by flood waters after rivers burst their banks following days of heavy rain.

Bangladesh deployed troops to shore up embankments in the north of the country, where flooding has killed 22 people.

Local government administrator Kazi Hasan Ahmed said up to 700,000 people had been marooned by flood waters after rivers burst their banks following days of heavy rain.

"We've not seen such severe floods in Dinajpur since 1988," he said, referring to the worst-hit district.

"The town protection embankment was washed away by flood water, submerging most of the main town." 

The government's Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre warned that water levels in some major rivers would continue to rise over the next 72 hours, raising fears the flooding could spread.

The rains are now expected to shift westwards and authorities in Nepal have begun evacuating 74,000 people from a vulnerable western district.

Hundreds have died in torrential rain, floods and landslides in neighbouring India during the monsoon, which hits the country's southern tip in early June and sweeps across the nation, lasting into September.

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