Asia Flood victims attacked by wild animals
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Asia Flood victims attacked by wild animals*
From correspondents in Patna, India
August 16, 2007 08:34pm
Article from: Reuters
FLOOD victims fought off hungry animals and battled waterborne diseases
in South Asia tosday as unrelenting monsoon rains caused fresh flooding
in the region, already battered by weeks of bad weather.
The death toll in eastern India alone rose by over 100 in the past week
with thousands more marooned or made homeless as bloated rivers burst
mud embankments.
Authorities across South Asia – where around 850 people have drowned,
been crushed by landslides or died from snakebite and waterborne
infections since mid-July – said they were struggling to help millions
of victims.
For some in the impoverished Indian state of Bihar, it is a struggle for
survival as jackals and monkeys have attacked dozens of villagers over
the past few days.
"Wild animals like jackals and monkeys are biting our wives and children
and snatching bread from their hands," said Lalan Raut from the
flood-hit Madhubani district.
"They are on a looting spree and are killing our goats and small rabbits."
Residents said the wild animals faced a shortage of prey since huge
areas of the state were under water.
Doctors said they had reports of at least 60 cases of animals attacking
villagers.
"We are rushing anti-rabies vaccines to every district," said Biltu
Paswan, a senior government doctor.
All schools and colleges were shut in the capital Patna as flood waters
swamped low-lying areas and entered buildings.
Many in the densely populated state of 90 million have complained of
poor aid efforts. Today, villagers demanding more food clashed with
police in some places, officials said.
In the neighbouring state of West Bengal, heavy rains flooded villages
in three districts this week, forcing more than 25,000 people out of
their homes.
A bridge collapsed in the state's Birbhum district, and many trains were
cancelled or diverted across the region.
A weather official said more rains were forecast for eastern India
because of a storm over West Bengal.
Further north, in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, around 60
people are believed to have died after a cloudburst caused a landslide
that buried an entire village on Tuesday.
Many victims were labourers working on hydro-electric power projects.
"We have so far managed to recover only five bodies and the rest of the
dead are buried under several feet of heavy debris consisting of huge
boulders," said Tarun Kapoor, a senior police officer.
In neighbouring Bangladesh, the toll from floods rose to 516 with 35
fatalities reported overnight, the health ministry said.
More than half the low-lying and riverine nation has been affected by
the flooding, and officials said typhoid, hepatitis and diarrhoea had
broken out in most flood-hit areas.
So far, more than 50,000 people have been treated for diarrhoea and
dysentery, they added.
"Not only contamination, but waterlogging and cross-leakage of water
supply and sewerage lines are also responsible for the outbreak," said
Habiba Khatun of the government's health directorate.
Each year, monsoon rains cause death and destruction in South Asia but
the annual downpours are also vital for the region's agricultural
production and overall economic growth.