NEW DELHI - The death toll from India's monsoon floods climbed to 202 on Tuesday as heavy rainfall kept pounding coastal regions in the west and south.
Authorities have already moved more than 1.2 million people to relief camps.
The southern tourist hotspot of Kerala, which was hit by its worst floods in almost a century last year leaving 450 dead, was once again bearing the brunt of monsoon downpours.
"The death toll in the state has increased to 88... and there are still at least 40 people missing," Pramod Kumar, Kerala police spokesperson, told AFP.
More than 250,000 people across the state's worst-affected districts including Wayanad, Malappuram, and Kozhikode have been shifted to relief camps.
At least 48 people have also lost their lives in neighboring Karnataka state.
A state government official told AFP that 16 people were still missing in Karnataka but the situation had improved as rains had eased.
"We have rescued around 677,000 people in the last few days and think the water level will start dropping in another 24 to 48 hours," the official said.
Local emergency personnel and troops from the army, navy and air force have been deployed for search, rescue and relief operations.
Indian media have also reported 66 deaths in the western states of Gujarat and Maharashtra, with hundreds of thousands rescued from inundated regions.
The monsoon rains are crucial to replenishing water supplies in drought-stricken India, but they kill hundreds of people across the country every year.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW DELHI/BENGALURU - The death toll from floods in the Indian states of Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra rose to 147, state authorities said on Sunday, as rescue teams raced to evacuate people and waters submerged parts of a world heritage site.
Heavy rain and landslides forced hundreds of thousands of people to take shelter in relief camps, while train services were canceled in several flood-hit areas.
In the southern state of Kerala, at least 57 people were killed in rain-related incidents while over 165,000 people were in relief camps in the state, state authorities said on Sunday.
"Several houses are still covered under 10-12 feet deep mud. This is hampering rescue work," state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.
Authorities worried that rescue operations would be hit by thunderstorms and rainfall predicted in some parts of Kerala.
Last year, more than 200 people were killed in Kerala and over five million affected in one of the worst floods in 100 years in the state.
In Karnataka, several structures at world heritage site Hampi, an ancient town, were flooded.
So far 60 people have died in rain-related incidents, said state chief minister B S Yediyurappa, adding nearly 227,000 people were staying in relief camps.
While Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra have been the worst hit this year, several other states including Gujarat, Assam and Bihar have also seen heavy damage due to floods.
In Maharashtra, where the death toll stood at 30, the flood situation was improving, according to state-run All India Radio, though authorities said it would be difficult to restore rail services in some flood-hit areas within the next two weeks.
India's main opposition Congress party called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide relief packages.
Citing media reports, the Congress party said so far this year 446 people have been killed in six flood-hit states including Assam, Bihar and Gujarat.
"Despite the mammoth loss of lives and displacement caused due to floods, the government is failing to realize the gravity of the flood fury," the Congress party said in a statement on Sunday.
(Reporting by Manoj Kumar in NEW DELHI and Gopakumar Warrier in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexandra Ulmer and Susan Fenton)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW DELHI - Floods have killed at least 100 people and displaced hundreds of thousands across much of India with the southern state of Kerala worst hit, authorities said Saturday.
With rains predicted to worsen in coming days, the government ordered military teams to form rescue units and airlift food to stranded villages across Kerala.
At least 48 people have died since Thursday in floods in Kerala, where the beaches and hill resorts are a major international tourist magnet, state police spokesman Pramod Kumar told AFP.
In neighboring Karnataka, at least 24 people have been killed with nine people missing. The western states of Maharashtra and Gujarat have also been badly hit by annual monsoon storms.
Media reports said at least 27 people have lost their lives in Maharashtra, with several major roads closed by floods. Storm accidents killed eight people in the key Gujarat cities of Ahmedabad and Nadiad.
The worst fears are for Kerala where the police spokesman said about 120,000 people have moved into emergency relief camps.
"There are around 80 places where flood and rains have triggered mudslides, which we cannot reach," Kumar added.
"About 200 people are stranded at one place. We are trying to use air force helicopters to drop food to them."
Kerala's main airport at Kochi has been closed since Friday. About 500 people died in floods in the state last year which were the worst in nearly a century.
More than 600 relief camps in Karnataka are now filled with 161,000 people, a state disaster management authority official told AFP.
"The rains have eased in the region and we think the water will soon start to recede. There are parts of northern Karnataka, coastal regions and the Western Ghats which are badly hit," the official added.
While the monsoon rains are crucial to replenishing water supplies, they kill hundreds of people every year.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
