India TILTING & BACKWASHING:
/ Northeast India floods kill 121, displace 6 mn. The death toll from heavy monsoon rains which have caused massive flooding in India's northeast has risen to more than 120, with six million forced to flee their homes, officials said Saturday. The weather office forecast that more rains during the next 24 hours would lash the region, which is suffering from its worst flooding in recent years. Assam state has been hardest hit by the annual rains with the mighty Brahmaputra river overflowing its banks, while flooding has also struck the nearby states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Meghalaya /
/ 8 washed away in flash floods in Himachal. Eight people belonging to a marriage party were washed away while crossing a swollen rivulet in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh on Saturday. One body was recovered 15 km downstream from Yamunanagar in Haryana. /
Bangladesh SINKING:
/ 1,028,728 Affected familes in Bangladesh floods. / Source: Relief Web
/ TERRIFYING flash-floods have hit nearly two million people across Bangladesh, triggering landslides and wiping out homes. So far 147 people are confirmed dead, with hundreds of thousands left homeless in the north and south-east of the country. /
/ Saline water floods aman seedbeds in 10 villages
Aman seedbeds on over 2,000 hectares of land at 10 villages under Kalapara upazila got damaged due to saline water that entered the village following collapse of a flood control embankment on Wednesday last. A tidal surge under the impact of full moon damaged over 500 feet of the dyke at Itbaria point in Lalua union of the upazila on the day. Water entered through the damaged portion of the dyke, flooding the villages of the upazila. The affected villages are Chandupara, Chowdhurypara, Monjupara, Munshipara, Charipara, Boro Panchnumber, Hasnapara, Nasnapara, Dhunjupara and Nowapara. Though the flood water has started to recede, the villages are still under 2 to 3 feet water, affecting at least 20,000 people. /
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India:
Northeast India floods kill 121, displace 6 mn
GUWAHATI, India — The death toll from heavy monsoon rains which have caused massive flooding in India's northeast has risen to more than 120, with six million forced to flee their homes, officials said Saturday.
The weather office forecast that more rains during the next 24 hours would lash the region, which is suffering from its worst flooding in recent years.
Assam state has been hardest hit by the annual rains with the mighty Brahmaputra river overflowing its banks, while flooding has also struck the nearby states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Meghalaya.
"So far a total of 121 people have died in separate incidents in which 105 were drowned while trying to escape the gushing waters and 16 more were killed in landslides caused by heavy rains," an Assam government statement said.
An estimated six million people have been forced to leave their homes to escape the floodwaters and find higher ground, a separate Central Water Commission bulletin said.
The monsoon, which sweeps across the subcontinent from June to September, is crucial for India's farmers but also claims many casualties from flooding every year.
Assam state officials were struggling to cope with the huge number of people displaced by the flooding, with makeshift relief camps sheltering some of those forced to leave their homes.
Twenty-six of the 27 districts in the tea-and-oil-rich state have been hit by flash floods since June 24 as a result of the torrential rains while the Brahmaputra river has breached its banks in at least nine places.
The flooding has also devastated the Kaziranga National Park, famous for its tigers, one-horned rhinos and elephants.
The Press Trust of India quoted officials as saying more than 540 of the park's animals, including 13 rhinos, had died.
In the adjoining states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Meghalaya, monsoon rains have caused widespread flooding but there have been no reported deaths.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh toured the Assam region by helicopter earlier in the week to view the effects of the rains.
"The people of Assam are facing one of the worst floods in recent times that has inflicted considerable damage," Singh said afterwards.
While India's northeast has received too much rain, the monsoon has been late arriving in other parts of the country.
The monsoon is dubbed the "economic lifeline" of India, which has a population of 1.2 billion and is one of the world's leading producers of rice, sugar, wheat and cotton.
Millions of Indian farmers still rely on monsoon rains to water around 60 percent of the country's farmland.
This year, the monsoon rainfall is running at 31 percent below the normal annual average. But the weather office has forecast heavy rains in the key planting months of July and August to make up for the shortfall.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jNWZu778j8LOg7hq...
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8 washed away in flash floods in Himachal
Eight people belonging to a marriage party were washed away while crossing a swollen rivulet in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh on Saturday. One body was recovered 15 km downstream from Yamunanagar in Haryana.
The marriage party, comprising 24 people, was travelling in four vehicles when it got stuck in the rivulet at Ponta Sahib, 150 km from here, following flash floods, the police said.
One of the vehicles, with six people on board, is still missing, the police said. There were about 24 people crossing the river when it was suddenly flooded by the upstream water.
Heavy rain lashed the hill State on Saturday. About 95 mm of rain was reported from various places in Kangra district.
More than 70 mm of rain was recorded in Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Dharamsala and Mandi districts. More than 30 mm of rain was also reported from Shimla, Solan, Sundernagar and many lower elevations of the State.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article3613916.ece
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Bangladesh:
Saline water floods aman seedbeds in 10 villages
Aman seedbeds on over 2,000 hectares of land at 10 villages under Kalapara upazila got damaged due to saline water that entered the village following collapse of a flood control embankment on Wednesday last.
A tidal surge under the impact of full moon damaged over 500 feet of the dyke at Itbaria point in Lalua union of the upazila on the day. Water entered through the damaged portion of the dyke, flooding the villages of the upazila.
The affected villages are Chandupara, Chowdhurypara, Monjupara, Munshipara, Charipara, Boro Panchnumber, Hasnapara, Nasnapara, Dhunjupara and Nowapara.
Though the flood water has started to recede, the villages are still under 2 to 3 feet water, affecting at least 20,000 people. The villagers said aman cultivation in the areas may be delayed as saline water damaged their seedbeds. Fishes worth over Tk 50 lakh were lost during the tidal surge, they added.
About 100 families have taken shelter on the flood control dyke as their houses have been inundated. On Saturday, a portion of the embankment with a sluice gate subsided at Itbania point.
Musa Gazi, a farmer of Monjupara village told this correspondent that he prepared seedbeds for planting aman on 25 acres of land. “My seedbeds got damaged and are still under water,” he said.
Solaiman Howlader of the same village said he cultivated fish in his ponds, taking Tk 30,000 in loan from a local NGO. “I have to incur a huge loss as fishes worth Tk one lakh have been washed away by the tidal surge,” he added.
Lalua Union Parishad (UP) Chairman Md Rezaul Karim said the embankment was also damaged by tidal surge during cyclonic storms Sidr and Aila, but repair job had not been done properly.
“I have urged the upazila administration to immediate steps to repair the damaged portion of the embankment,” the UP chairman said.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=241318
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Bangladesh Floods Appeal
TERRIFYING flash-floods have hit nearly two million people across Bangladesh, triggering landslides and wiping out homes.
So far 147 people are confirmed dead, with hundreds of thousands left homeless in the north and south-east of the country.
“Survivors urgently need safe drinking water and medicine – as well as cash to buy emergency food supplies,” says Myrna Evora, Plan International Country Director in Bangladesh.
“The poorest of the poor – including agricultural labourers and rickshaw pullers – are some of the worst affected, as their crops and means to earn a living have been destroyed.”
“In many areas roads are submerged and pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers are finding it impossible to access vital health services.”
Plan is distributing emergency cash to 7,000 families in some of the worst affected areas of the country.
The organisation is appealing for £650,000 to fund its emergency response for those most at need.
“Sanitation continues to be a serious concern – diarrhoea, skin infections and fever are on the increase in flood-affected areas and many women and girls don’t have access to sanitary towels,” says Ms Evora.
“We also want to make sure we protect children – as those in shelters, especially girls, are likely to be at greater risk of abuse.”
“Schools are among the water-logged buildings – so we will be working to help children continue their education in a safe and secure environment.”
Experts are expecting more heavy rains before September, resulting in continuous flooding.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/bangladesh-floods-appeal
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