NEW DELHI, 12 July 2004 — Millions in the northeast have been hit by floods with the annual torrential rainfall swelling the river waters. The flood situation in lower Assam has worsened after a dam inside Bhutan burst on Saturday night flooding fresh areas.
With the water level rising steadily in regions such as Bongaigon in Barpaeta district, civil and police officials have rushed to the spot, according to official sources.
Indian Air Force and army are working together to try and rescue millions of people struck by this disaster, which has killed more than 90 people.
On Saturday night, 40 people were trying to escape to higher ground when their boat capsized. There were no survivors, sources said.
With there being continuous rainfall over the past week, all rivers in the state of Assam are overflowing.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told reporters in Guwahati: “More than two million people have become homeless because of floods.”
Military helicopters and soldiers in motor boats were trying to rescue thousands of people marooned across the state, he said.
If in Assam, flood waters have inundated highways and railway tracks and washed away several bridges, the situation is grim in parts of Bihar too.
Flood waters have already risen to dangerous levels in Madhubani, Muzaffarpur, Sheohar and Champaran.
More than 600,000 people had been affected in Bihar, said state Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Ram Vichar Rai.
While Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and officials from the center visited the affected areas on Saturday, relief efforts still are nowhere in sight .
India’s Population Over 1.02 Billion
India’s population has swelled to more than 1.02 billion, an official said yesterday.
“India has touched a population of over 1.02 billion as of March 1 this year,” Census Commissioner J.K. Banthia said on the occasion of World Population Day.
“At 00:00 hours (Saturday yesterday) the country’s population stood at 1,027,015,247 comprising 531,277,078 men and 495,738,169 women.”
The official citing figures from the last census conducted in 2001 said India added 182 million people between 1991 and 2001, which was more than the population of Brazil, the world’s fifth most populous country.
