Villagers use a boat to cross a flooded village in Morigaon district, about 60km from Guwahati in of Assam yesterday. Heavy rain and floods in Assam and other states in the north and northeast have submerged hundreds of villages.
Agencies/Dehradun
The death toll from heavy monsoon downpours in northern India climbed to 24 yesterday after seven people in a house were killed in their sleep by a landslide, authorities said.
Heavy rains in the last two days have triggered landslides in the scenic Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, reviving memories of a deadly deluge last year that killed some 5,000 people.
“Seven people were killed while one woman was pulled alive by rescue workers from the debris of a house which collapsed due to overnight rain,” district magistrate Chandresh Yadav said, adding that the death toll had risen to 24.
According to officials in Pauri district, at least 50 families were stranded and the army was being deployed to evacuate them.
With more rain predicted in the next 24 hours, state authorities have sought reinforcements from the army and the air force, said government spokesman Surendra Kumar.
President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have expressed grief over the deaths.
In a message to Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi, the president said: “I am deeply saddened to learn about the heavy rains leading to landslides in certain areas of Uttarakhand, which have caused loss of lives, injuries and damage to property. I understand rescue and relief operations are currently underway.”
“I am sure that the state government and other authorities are making all efforts to bring relief to those affected and also provide assistance to the people who have incurred losses,” the president said.
Prime Minister Modi too expressed grief over the loss of lives and extended his condolences to the affected families.
Meanwhile, the flood situation in Bihar worsened yesterday with a river breaching its embankment in Darbhanga district and affecting thousands, officials said.
The Kamala Balan river, swelled by the flood waters of its tributaries, breached the embankment near Ghanshayampur in Darbhanga.
The flood waters then submerged over a dozen villages, affecting thousands of people.
In other parts of the state, after a heavy downpour pushed up the water level of Kosi, Gandak and Bagmati rivers, hundreds of villages have been inundated and thousands marooned.
An official of the disaster management department said the flood situation was grim.
“We have sounded a high alert as major rivers in north Bihar, especially the Kosi, Gandak, Kamla Balan and Bagmati, are in spate following heavy rains in their catchment areas in Nepal and are posing a threat of floods,” he said.
He however said there have been no deaths yet.
Eight teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and state disaster response force have been deployed in flood-hit districts.
The state disaster management department has asked people living in low-lying areas to move to higher ground, he said.
Reports said hundreds fled their homes after water entered their villages in Supaul, Saharsa, Bagha, Gopalganj, Madhubani, Sitamarhi, Khagaria, Darbhanga and Madhepura.
A water resource department official said: “Water entered these villages after levels rose in all the major rivers following heavy rain in the state and the catchment areas in Nepal.”
While India’s annual rains are a lifeline for the country’s farm sector, flooding, landslides and building collapses are frequent during the monsoon season, which sweeps India from June to September.
Earlier this month, at least 151 people were killed in the western city of Pune by a massive landslide caused by monsoon rains.
Neighbouring Nepal suffered its worst landslide in more than a decade this month in which 156 people were presumed killed.
