INDIA: FLOOD FURY CONTINUES UNABATED

Описание: (10 Sep 1998) Eng/Bengali/Nat

The flood fury continues unabated in the eastern and Northern parts of India, ravaging lives and property.

More than two-thousand people are reported to have died and (m) millions have been displaced in what are being described as the worst floods of this century.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee surveyed the area hardest hit by torrential rains in northern India on Thursday.

He pledged to find a regional solution to the recurring flooding problem.

It is battle against the fury of nature.

The raging floods are beginning to assume proportions of a national calamity, leaving a trail of death and devastation behind.

West Bengal state in eastern India is one of the worst affected areas.

While Malda district has been submerged totally by the swirling flood water, the situation in the neighbouring Murshidabad is worsening by the hour.

The water level in the rivers is continuing to rise, threatening to submerge many more villages.

Since the monsoon rains broke over northern India in early July, more than two-thousand people are reported to have died in the continuing floods in the country.

Despite government's efforts in battling the incessant rains and overflowing river, officials say 165 people have perished in these floods in West Bengal alone and more than five (m) million have been rendered homeless.

Entire villages have been swept away and the incessant rain is hampering rescue and relief measures.

(M) Millions of people are still marooned in Malda and Murshidabad districts.

Villagers say the destruction caused by the floods this time is unprecedented.

SOUNDBITE ( Bengali) :
"This time there is nothing left of our houses, our property."
(Q: Have you got any help, medical aid?)
"We haven't received anything."
SUPER CAPTION: Flood victim

Hundreds of acres of ready crops have been inundated by overflowing rivers.

Floods regularly ravage the Indian countryside in the northern and eastern parts, but this year's devastation is said to be the worst in the century.

More than 325 (m) million people live in the flood affected states of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam.

Most of those displaced by the floods are poor farmers.

Property and livestock worth (m) millions of dollars have perished in the water.

The deluge threatens to plunge India's annual food grain production and a steep rise in food prices.

Communication links have snapped and power stations are submerged in water.

There is no electricity and an acute shortage of drinking water in the areas affected by the floods.

Many villagers are reported to have died of snake bites.

Medical aid is still insufficient even as the authorities prepare to tackle the emerging epidemic of water borne diseases.

A large number of people are suffering from diseases like diarrhoea, hepatitis and cholera.

The outbreak is likely to get worse once the flood water starts receding.

SOUNDBITE( English) :
"Almost 14 lakh (one point four (m) million) population of the district, out of the total 47 lakhs (four point seven (m) million) has been affected very badly by these floods. We have opened around 650 rescue camps."
SUPER CAPTION: H.K. Dwivedi, District Administrator Murshidabad

Makeshift shelters resting on a few bamboos and a polythene sheets are the new homes for the flood victims.

Drenched and starved, people have shifted to the relief camps set up by the government.

The wrath of the floodwave continues to lead to mass exodus from the affected villages.


SOUNDBITE ( Bengali) :
SUPER CAPTION: Mohammad Abdul , Flood Victim




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