 |
| Television channels showed footage of rice paddy crops submerged or washed away and flooded rivers sweeping away bridges, roads and houses. Many dams in the state were nearing the danger mark and authorities were evacuating thousands to safer locations as major rivers overflowed. (Photo from Bangkok Post) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] DEHRADUN: More than 100 people have died in several days of massive flooding and devastating landslides that swept away roads and houses in India and Nepal, officials said Wednesday (Oct 20), with scores more missing, Reuter reported.
In Uttarakhand in northern India, officials said that 46 people had died in recent days with 11 missings. In Kerala in the south chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the death toll had hit 39 there. At least 30 of those in Uttarakhand were killed in seven separate incidents in the Nainital region early Tuesday. The Indian Meteorological Department extended and widened its weather alert on Tuesday, predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall in the region. Police in Nepal said on Wednesday that at least 43 people have died and another 30 are missing after three days of heavy rainfall triggered landslides and flash floods. Persistent heavy rains were hampering efforts to reach a village in west Nepal where 60 people have been marooned by floodwaters for two days at Seti village, about 350km west of the capital Kathmandu.
Authorities have warned of more rainfall in the next few days. Landslides are a regular danger in the Himalayan region, but experts say they are becoming more common as rains become increasingly erratic and glaciers melt. Experts also blame construction work on hydroelectric dams and deforestation.
