Raging Floods in India force victims to treetops
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Raging Floods in India force victims to treetops*
By Jatindra Dash in Bhubaneswar, India
June 20, 2008 08:57pm
Article from: Reuters
FLOOD victims in eastern India took refuge in treetops today as monsoon
rains swamped homes and continued to spread misery among millions.
Swelling rivers continued to break through mud embankments in the
country's east and north-east, killing at least 50 people in the past 10
days and affecting more than three million.
Air force helicopters dropped food packets in the eastern state of
Orissa, as hundreds of villagers climbed trees, hoping to be rescued as
their homes got washed away, officials said.
"I have seen hundreds of people living on trees and pleading to be
rescued," community leader Jayanarayan Mohanty said.
In the eastern city of Jamshedpur, three alligators and a crocodile
slipped out of a zoo after heavy rains flooded the park, officials said.
The crocodile was later caught, and a park official said the missing
alligators were a danger to the people.
Heavy monsoon rains also had an impact on coal mining in eastern
Jharkhand state, with production at the state-run Central Coalfield
Limited down by over 50 per cent.
In West Bengal, trains services came to a halt in many flood-hit areas
and a bridge was destroyed in West Midnapore.
Although the army has been called out to provide aid, people in many
villages were angry at delays.
"We have not got any relief so far, we are homeless and starving for the
past three days," said Usharani Manna, a flood victim in West Midnapore
district.
Prices of essential commodities have shot up across the region as
flooding blocked many highways and trucks carrying food and medicine
were stranded.
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