Floods swamp more of Bangladesh and India, with millions marooned

DHAKA • Floodwaters inundated more of Bangladesh and north-east India yesterday, officials said, as the authorities struggled to reach more than 9.5 million people stranded with little food and drinking water after days of intense rain.

Particularly heavy monsoon rain resulted in the worst floods in more than a century in some parts of low-lying Bangladesh, killing at least 69 people over the past two weeks there and in India's Assam state.

"People are without food," said Mr Abu Bakar, 26, a resident of hard-hit Sunamganj district in north-eastern Bangladesh.

"They are not even getting drinking water, since floodwater submerged all tube-wells."

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina flew over some of the flood-hit areas yesterday, looking down on huge tracts covered by brown water, broken up by the occasional outcrop of land, television footage showed.

The monsoon brings heavy rains to South Asia between June and October, often triggering floods, especially in low-lying areas like Bangladesh, where rivers swollen with waters pouring out of the Himalayas often burst their banks.

Extreme weather in South Asia has become more frequent and environmentalists warn that climate change could lead to ever more serious disasters.

Mr Atiqul Haque, director-general of Bangladesh's Department of Disaster Management, said three more districts in the northern and central parts of the country had been flooded.

"The local administration along with army, navy, police, fire, and emergency services personnel and volunteers have been engaged in rescue and relief operations," Mr Haque said.

The floods in the Sylhet region, which includes Sunamganj, are the most severe in more than a century. The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) said 90 per cent of its health facilities have been inundated, and cases of waterborne diseases are increasing.

"Four million people, including 1.6 million children, stranded by flash floods in north-eastern Bangladesh are in urgent need of help," Unicef said.

In some areas, the Bangladesh military dropped sacks of relief supplies from helicopters to people waiting on rooftops, television footage showed.

Mr Syed Rafiqul Haque, a former lawmaker and ruling party politician in Sunamganj district, said flood shelters were crammed with people.

"Many people are still without food and water," he said. "Cries for help are getting louder."

In Assam state in neighbouring India, flooding has cut off three districts in the Barak valley and the water in parts of the region's main city of Silchar is waist-deep, the authorities and residents said.

"The situation is extremely serious," Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. "We will try to airlift fuel to Silchar and the other two districts immediately."

Indian army and paramilitary troops have been called in to help with rescue operations and had evacuated about 1,000 people in the past 72 hours, an official said.

Assam and neighbouring Meghalaya state have received 134 per cent more rainfall than the average for this time of the year, according to data from the India Meteorological Department.

About 4.7 million people have been forced from their homes in Assam, with 330,000 staying in shelters, the government said.

"I am 80 years old and have never witnessed such devastation in my life," said Mr Majaharul Laskar, a retired government official in Silchar.

REUTERS