80 Feared Dead After Heavy Rainfall In India

Dirty water with fish squirming around flooded a hospital in northeast India after monsoon rain and at least 80 people died within days in one state in weather-related accidents, officials said Monday.

Patients sat gingerly with their feet up at the Nalanda Medical College hospital in Bihar state when water gushed into the intensive care unit, highlighting the annual havoc the monsoon wreaks on the country’s creaking infrastructure.

“A portion of the ground floor was flooded yesterday (Sunday) after a pipe choked amid heavy rains, causing waterlogging,” Sitaram Prasad, principal of the college-cum-hospital, told AFP.

Tens of thousands of buildings and homes across India regularly flood during the monsoon months of June to September, which bring death and destruction.

Some 545 people have died across the country since May due to the rains, with over a million people affected in some way.

Sanjay Kumar, the head of disaster management in Uttar Pradesh state west of Bihar, said 80 people have been killed by collapsing homes or walls since Thursday after heavy rain pounded much of the region.

Neighbouring states are also on alert, with authorities evacuating 3,000 residents from areas near the River Yamuna, which is flowing above the danger level in the capital New Delhi.

A 150-year-old iron bridge was closed as water levels rose to touch its base.

Authorities in Haryana state said many rivers were brimming close to the danger mark.

Gujarat in the west and the northeastern state of Assam have also been affected. More than 200,000 people are living in relief camps in Assam.

Mumbai, the capital of the western state of Maharashtra, was pounded by days of torrential rain which disrupted transport and caused severe flooding.

(AFP)