Flood situation grim in India's Assam state, 24 dead

New Delhi - The flood situation in India's north-eastern Assam state was grave on Sunday with more than 2.1 million people displaced and the death toll touching 24, officials and news reports said. The Bramhaputra river and its tributaries have flooded farmland, villages, towns and two national park areas. Several sections of railroads and highways were swept away. 'The situation is still grim with 20 of the state's 27 districts affected by the floods,' Assam Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Bhumidhar Barman was quoted as saying by IANS news agency. The local weather office forecast scattered to heavy rainfall over the next 24 hours and officials said there was no short-term prospect of the situation easing. A Central Water Commission bulletin said the main Brahmaputra river and its tributaries were flowing above the danger level in at least 10 places. 'Thousands of people are staying in makeshift shelters with the government providing food and other essentials to the displaced people, besides healthcare facilities,' Barman said. Medical teams working at the shelters said many people complained of diarrhoea, stomach ache and fever raising fears of the outbreak of epidemics. Two of Assam's wildlife sanctuaries, the Kaziranga National Park and the Pabitora Wildife Sanctuary, have also been flooded and forest officials said at least four rhinos and several deer had been killed as they tried to escape the floodwaters. In eastern Bihar state, as the flood waters of the Kosi river receded further, the state government deployed security forces to protect property of people in the flooded areas amid reports of looting and robbing. Large swathes of Bihar have been flooded for more than a fortnight since the Kosi breached its banks in neighboring Nepal during heavy monsoon rains. Hundreds of Bihar's villages remain under water. An official of the state disaster management department said that 882,000 marooned people have been evacuated and over 275,000 people have taken shelter in 300 relief camps. 'Large number of flood victims taking shelter in relief camps have complained of theft and looting by anti-social elements,' an official supervising the camps was quoted as saying by IANS. More than a hundred cases of theft were reported from Madhepura, Supaul, Saharsa, Araria and Purnea districts, he said. At least 80 people have died in the floods in Bihar and more than 3.7 million people have been affected. A total of 1,876 people have died this year in 15 of India's 29 states are in flood brought on by the annual monsoon rains that last from June to end-September, according to official data.