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Millions Stranded In Flooded South Asia
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People were swept away by a dam burst in flood-hit Bangladesh (AFP)
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BOGRA,
Bangladesh, July 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Rescuers
struggled Friday, July 16, to reach remote areas in South Asia
submerged by the worst flooding in nearly two decades that has left
hundreds dead and millions stranded across the region.
Four
children died and 40 were washed away when waters from the powerful
Jamuna river broke through an embankment Wednesday in northwestern
Bogra district in
Bangladesh
, unleashing a torrent that tore through villages, reported Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
"We
were sleeping when the water came and suddenly we were surrounded. We
couldn't save anything - we just saved our lives by swimming to this
road," a 35-year-old mother of two told AFP.
"We
have to sleep in the open because we have nothing, no food, no water,
no blankets, no shelter."
Police
said Friday 40 were believed to have been killed in the dam burst and
four were confirmed dead after earlier saying the death toll could be
as high as 64.
Surging
river waters have inundated wide tracts in
Bangladesh
, eastern
India
and
Nepal
following torrential monsoon rains that have lashed the region since
mid-June, displacing around 21.5 million people.
India
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Flood-affected villagers try to move to safer areas in the eastern Indian state of Bihar |
The
total number of dead in
India
now stands at 172, with 67 killed in
Bangladesh
and 77 in
Nepal
, where nine more people are missing, according to an AFP tally based
on official figures. Media reports say the overall toll may be far
higher.
Officials
have described the flooding as the worst in 17 years.
Across
the region, millions have taken shelter on raised bamboo stilts and on
mud embankments, some even on rooftops of their mud-and-straw huts,
waiting to be rescued by boat or plucked from the air by helicopters.
In
the eastern Indian state of
Assam
where the official death toll from flooding had climbed to 87, Chief
Minister Tarun Gogoi said some 7.5 million people had been displaced
by rising waters, which have washed away 3,500 villages.
"We're
trying to meet the needs of the people but we require urgent help in
the form of food supplies, medicines, relief materials besides
voluntary health care workers to reach out to the people," he
said.
National
Minister of Water Resources Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said the Indian
government was "addressing the crisis with all seriousness."
The
eastern Indian state of
Bihar
sent an SOS message to the federal government seeking more help from
the army to rescue millions of people trapped in the devastating
floods.
At
least nine people drowned overnight in
Bihar
, taking the death toll to 41 as 1.7 million more people were hit by
the floods, an official statement said.
Over
10 million people in 16 flood-hit districts have been either displaced
or trapped by the floods in
Bihar
, according to official figures.
Bihar
Chief Minister Rabri Devi asked for 10 billion rupees (210 million
dollars) from the National Calamity Fund to tackle the crisis.
Some
300 army personnel fanned out across vast tracts of flooded land in
boats to rescue trapped villagers in
Bihar
while at least 10 helicopters dropped packets of food and other
essential supplies.
In
addition, more than 2,500 government and private boats were being
used.
Bangladesh
In
Bangladesh
, officials said up to four million people were stranded as flooding
submerged large parts of this low-lying country since the weekend,
devastating crops.
Many
villagers were marooned or had fled to higher ground.
The
Bangladeshi government was sending medical teams to flood-hit areas to
check the outbreak of contagious waterborne diseases and distribute
rice, water purification tablets and plastic sheeting for temporary
shelters.
Bangladesh
suffers annual monsoon floods but officials say the extent of this
year's flooding caused by torrential downpours and melting ice from
the
Himalayas
, has been unusual.
In
Nepal
, where 28 of the country's 75 districts have been hit by floods, the
rains began easing Wednesday, but relief operations were still in full
swing.
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