Floods destroy 100+ villages

2008-05-29 12:29

Biswajyoti Das

Guwahati - Floods triggered by heavy rain destroyed more than 100 villages and affected thousands of people in India's northeast over the last two days, officials said on Thursday.

Surging rivers washed away homes and many villagers were being evacuated from low-lying areas in Assam state, officials said.

Embankments at several places have been damaged by water flowing down the mountains in Assam, affecting around 50 000 people.

"Continuous rainfall in the upper reaches caused overflowing of rivers and heavy erosion of river banks," Diwakar Mishra, said a senior government official in Assam state's Dhemaji district.

On Thursday, officials said a portion of a highway connecting Arunachal Pradesh, which shares a border with China, had been washed away.

Last year, around 50 people were killed and more than 12 million people affected by flooding in Assam alone.

- Reuters