Monsoon Floods Hit South Asia, Affecting Millions of People

Monsoon Floods Hit South Asia, Affecting Millions of People

By Ed Johnson

Aug 3: (Bloomberg) -- Monsoon rains caused flooding across northern India, Bangladesh and Nepal, killing hundreds of people and leaving millions more homeless as relief agencies battled to provide emergency supplies and prevent the outbreak of disease.

``Huge areas are underwater,'' Oxfam's Aditi Kapoor said in an interview aired by the British Broadcasting Corp. today from the Indian capital, New Delhi. ``This situation will worsen and will probably continue for another two months.''

Among the hardest hit regions are the Indian states of Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh where at least 165 people were killed and about 14 million lost their homes and farmland, state-run broadcaster Doordarshan reported.

South Asia experiences monsoon rains from June to September, which are vital for the region's agriculture, although frequently cause flooding and landslides that devastate crops, destroy homes and trigger diseases such as diarrhea and dysentery.

``Food is a real problem in the short term,'' Kapoor told the BBC. ``In the long term, we will probably see a lot of distressed migration in these areas.''

In Bangladesh, a low-lying delta nation of 145 million people, about 5 million are displaced or marooned and at least 46 died after rivers burst their banks, Associated Press reported.

`Natural Calamity'

Nepal is experiencing a ``natural calamity,'' Matthew Kahane, a humanitarian relief coordinator for the United Nations, said in a statement two days ago.

Three weeks of incessant rain in the Himalayan kingdom have caused floods and landslides that have affected more than 230,000 people and driven 4,000 families from their homes, the UN said. About 86 people have died, Nepalnews.com reported, citing the Home Ministry.

In India's northeastern Assam state, about 5.5 million people, a quarter of its population, have been displaced by floods, Doordarshan reported. Railway services are suspended and flood waters washed away highways, AP said, citing state government officials.

``The situation is grim,'' the news agency cited Bhumidhar Barman, a minister in the Assam state government, as saying yesterday.

Indian authorities deployed troops to help evacuate people in the worst-hit areas, including northern Uttar Pradesh state, AP said.

``I have not seen such flooding in the last 24 years,'' the agency cited Santosh Mishra, a villager in the state's Gonda district, as saying. ``There are no signs of houses, temples or trees.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Ed Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net .

Last Updated: August 2, 2007 22:14 EDT