More than 80 killed by monsoon deluge in remote Indian state

The worst monsoon floods in a decade to hit a remote Indian state have killed more than 80 people and forced around two million to leave their homes.
By The Newsroom
Published 3rd Jul 2012, 07:00 BST

Nearly half a million people are living in relief camps set up across Assam; the rest are living in government buildings or in the open.

Officials say 81 people have died over the past four days. Most were swept away when the Brahmaputra River overflowed and flooded villages, with sixteen people buried in a landslide.

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Air force helicopters have been dropping food and drinking water to marooned people and soldiers used boats to rescue villagers from rooftops of flooded homes.

Health clinics have been opened in the 770 relief camps set up across Assam, one of India’s main tea-growing states.

The hilly tea growing areas have not been affected, but lower rice fields have been washed away. In the worst-hit Dhemaji district, the Brahmaputra swept away entire villages.

Majuli island, one of the world’s largest river islands, was awash as water levels in the Brahmaputra rose above the danger level.