DHAKA/GUWAHATI, 17 September 2007 — Severe flooding in India and Bangladesh claimed 29 more lives overnight as officials warned yesterday there was more rain ahead in a deluge that has marooned or displaced millions.
More than 3,200 people have now been killed in the two countries in what officials are calling the worst monsoon season in decades, which has also ruined hundreds of millions of dollars in crops.
In India’s northeastern Assam state, one of the regions hardest hit by the floods, 10 people drowned while trying to escape the water’s fury, said the state’s relief minister, Bhumidar Barman.
“The situation is still critical in many areas with millions of people lodged at makeshift shelters,” Barman said, noting that the forecast called for more thundershowers in the coming 24 hours.
“More rains mean the situation would worsen further,” he said.
The torrential downpours have swelled the Brahmaputra and Ganges rivers, which burst their banks last week.
Large swathes of Assam continued to suffer heavy flooding yesterday, with the swirling waters of the main Brahmaputra River flowing above the danger mark in many places. The Central Water Commission said the river and its main tributaries were still rising.
“This is one of the most prolonged floods in recent years and by far the worst,” Assam state Water Resources Minister Bharat Narah said. More than 2,200 people have been killed by floods and rains in India alone this monsoon season, which began in June.
In neighboring Bangladesh, despite receding water levels, 19 people died overnight, taking the death toll since June to 1,042, government spokesman Sachindranath Halder said yesterday.
More than 2.5 million people have been marooned or displaced while crops across two million acres (800,000 hectares) of land have been damaged, Flood Forecasting and Warning Center chief Saiful Hossain said. But he said the floodwaters were starting to recede.
“The flood situation improved in the last 24 hours and continues to improve at a faster rate as all the major rivers have started falling across the country,” Hossain said.
“We think the floods will be over by Friday.” Bangladesh, which has a population of 144 million, has sought an initial $150 million in aid, with $60 million already pledged in immediate food and medical assistance.
Slum dwellings in low-lying areas near Dhaka have been deluged by floodwaters, forcing thousands of people into camps, witnesses said yesterday.
“Bad luck keeps haunting us,” said Parveen Begum, as she and her child were taken by boat to a camp after her shanty at Basila, in the city’s eastern suburbs, went under water.
It was the second time she had to flee her home in a month.
India yesterday handed over a check for $10 million and also donated 50,000 metric tons of food grains to Bangladesh for the relief and rehabilitation of the flood-affected people.
Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty handed over the check to Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury at his office in Dhaka. Talking to reporters the Indian envoy said ships with food grains will arrive in Bangladesh in the middle of this month. It will include 40,000 metric tons of rice and 10,000 metric tons of wheat.
Chowdhury thanked the Indian High Commissioner for New Delhi’s gesture and said relations between Dhaka and New Delhi were gaining strength.
He hoped the passenger train service between Joydevpur and Kolkata will start soon. Chowdhury said the two countries would hold bilateral meeting as well as SAARC council of ministers meeting in New York on the sidelines of the UN general assembly session beginning on Sept. 24.
The latest Indian donation will greatly help Bangladesh in overcoming food shortage caused by the devastating floods. Crops on 4,68,000 hectares out of nearly 2.1 million hectares in 25 districts have been damaged.
A Department of Agriculture Extension report released yesterday said standing crops on 4,67,584 hectares out of 20,75,772 hectares have been affected by the flash floods, the second in a month.
