Devastating floods 'a calamity'
2008-08-28 14:15
Saharsa - Massive flooding in eastern India has caused a "national calamity", the prime minister said on Thursday after touring the devastated region where more than a million remain trapped.
Manmohan Singh announced a relief package of $228m and 125 000 tons of grain for those affected when a monsoon-swollen river changed course, flooding huge swathes of the country's impoverished Bihar state.
"If there is a need for more, we will give more," he told reporters. "We would like to assure the people of Bihar that all India will support them through this difficulty."
The Kosi river breached its banks ten days ago on the border with Nepal, flowing through a channel it had previously abandoned.
"About 90 000 victims have been evacuated from villages in the flood affected area by government rescue agencies," disaster management official Prataya Amrit told AFP.
More than 400 boats had been pressed into service and hundreds more would be used to shift people to relief shelters and higher land, official Amrit said.
At least 46 people are reported to have died in the floods, as army troops and air force helicopters rushed to help police in the rescue operation.
Thousands of residents abandoned their homes as the floodwater spread and have taken shelter in crowded relief camps or in buildings on higher ground.
Nepalese disaster management officials told AFP the river had washed away a series of dams and spurs, which control the water, sending huge torrents downstream that washed away further flood defences.
Authorities on both sides of the border have been in dispute over maintenance of flood control structures and uncleared silt, officials said.
The Kosi, which flows into the Ganges, is known as the "River of Sorrow" due to its record of disastrous floods during the monsoon season.
More than 800 people have been killed in monsoon-related accidents following the heavy June-to-September rains across India.
Bihar officials said the death toll could climb further as many areas were inaccessible.
- AFP