Flash floods kill scores in Nepal, Assam

KATHMANDU/GUWAHATI, India REUTERS | July 29   Flash floods and landslides have killed at least 68 people in Nepal in the past three days and another 15 are missing, local authorities said on Thursday.   Rescue teams of soldiers and police personnel used rubber boats and helicopters to rescue people from rooftops and trees, Yadav Koirala, spokesman for Nepal's home ministry, said. Some waded through waist-deep water with women and children, police said. [caption id="attachment_209109" align="aligncenter" width="657"]People hang onto a vehicle as they cross a flooded road after heavy rains on the outskirts of Agartala, India, July 18, 2016. REUTERS/Jayanta Dey People hang onto a vehicle as they cross a flooded road after heavy rains on the outskirts of Agartala, India, July 18, 2016. REUTERS/Jayanta Dey[/caption] [caption id="attachment_209110" align="aligncenter" width="644"]An army officer assists flood victims in Jhapa, Nepal, July 24, 2016. Picture taken July 24, 2016. Nepalese Army/Handout via REUTERS An army officer assists flood victims in Jhapa, Nepal, July 24, 2016. Picture taken July 24, 2016. Nepalese Army/Handout via REUTERS[/caption] In the western town of Butwal, 170 km (110 miles) from Kathmandu, local TV stations showed the Tinau river washing away a huge suspension bridge.  

Dramatic footage shot from a smartphone by Yub Raj Rana, a local, also showed the Tinau breaching a concrete embankment, forcing him to flee a tide of water until he reached the safety of higher ground.   In neighbouring India, nearly 1.7 million people have been affected by floods and 15 lives lost as the situation remained critical in Assam with rivers continuing to overflow, local authorities said.   There was some respite, however, from incessant rains on Thursday.   Floods and landslides are common in India and Nepal during the June-September monsoon season and the death toll runs into the hundreds every year.   The oil-rich and tea-growing state of Assam is under water except for a few districts, the state forest minister said.   The Brahmaputra, Assam's main river which is fed by Himalayan snow melt and monsoon rains, has burst its banks in many areas along its course. The majority of Assam's land area is in the Brahmaputra valley.   "The situation is still very bad. We are taking measures to help people in every possible way," Forest Minister Pramila Rani Brahma said.   The army has been deployed to repair dams washed away by gushing waters and helicopters have been pressed into action to distribute food and medicines to homeless people who have taken shelter on highways and in hilly areas.   Local officials have opened around 500 temporary shelters and more than 150 distribution camps for the displaced people, officials at the state disaster management authority said.  

44 NDRF teams deployed in 12 flood-hit states, rescue 894 people

  New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) As many as 44 disaster relief teams have been deployed in flood-affected areas in 12 states, and have rescued 894 stranded/marooned persons so far in Assam and Bihar, an official statement said on Friday.   Thirteen of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams are deployed in Assam, nine in Bihar and the remaining in Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal to assist the state governments in rescue and relief work, the statement said.   Those rescued by the self-contained NDRF teams include 497 persons in Assam and 397 in Bihar.   In Assam, 307 people were evacuated from Jorhat district, 37 from Kokrajhar, 80 from Charang and 73 from Kamrup. In Bihar, 43 persons were evacuated from Supaul, 34 from Bhetia, 250 from Purnia and 70 from Gopalganj.   The NDRF teams have also been providing mobile hospital facilities to flood-affected people in Assam and have set up medical camps in Bihar.   The mobile hospital facilities are also being provided at Meragarh and Missamora villages in Assam -- where floods have caused havoc and displaced thousands.   "The medical teams have attended to 163 sick persons and distributed medicines to the needy in different area in Assam," it was officially stated   The NDRF teams have also established medical camps in some blocks in Muzzafarpur and Supaul districts in Bihar.   "A round-the-clock NDRF control room in New Delhi is closely monitoring the situation and is in touch with other government agencies," the statement said.