At least 100 dead, millions affected due to rains in India, Bangladesh

Dhaka/New Delhi, Jun 20 (EFE).- At least 100 people died and several millions were affected by torrential rains during the last week in northeastern India and Bangladesh with the arrival of the monsoon season in South Asia.

The northeastern Indian states of Assam and Meghalaya have been the worst hit with at least 62 deaths and several dozen missing in the last seven days, according to the Indian authorities.

In Assam, 45 people died – 11 of them in the last 24 hours -, while seven others remain missing, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority reported in its latest report Monday.

Moreover, some 4.7 million people have been affected in this region, and 231,000 of them have been transferred to temporary shelters, the report added.

The Meghalaya state government has reported 17 deaths due to floods and landslides in the region in the last one week.

In Bangladesh, in the absence of official data, the non-profit Foundation for Disaster Forum has so far counted a total of 38 people who have lost their lives – 28 of them due to lightning strikes – in the last week.

According to the country’s Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, at least 12 districts have been flooded, leaving 2.5 million people affected, most of them in the worst hit districts of Sylhet, Sunamganj and Netrokona.

Some 447,000 have been evacuated to shelters from these districts.

“So far 12 districts have been flooded in Bangladesh, But the situation started slightly improving today with less rain,” Flood Forecasting and Warning Center’s chief Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan told EFE.

Although floods are normal in the monsoon season, the towns of Louregorh in Sunamganj and Lalakhal in Sylhet have already received more rain than the normal average for this month, he underlined.

Rains cause significant personal and material damage each year in South Asian countries, especially during the monsoon period between May and September.

At least 74 people died and millions of people were affected by heavy rains that hit northern India and Bangladesh last month.

These monsoon rains, which are essential for agriculture in the region, account for more than 60 percent of the annual rainfall in India, which produces key food crops such as rice and maize at this time. EFE

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