Flooding displaces tens of thousands and kills 1 as heavy monsoon rains batter Indian villages
Tens of thousands of people have taken shelter in government-run relief camps as heavy monsoon rains batter villages in India’s northeast
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Tens of thousands of people have taken shelter in government-run relief camps as heavy monsoon rains batter villages in India’s northeast, and one person has died in the floodwaters this week, a government relief agency said Friday.
Assam state is on red alert and bracing for more downpours this weekend by evacuating people in low-lying areas.
Nearly 14,000 people currently live in 83 relief camps run by the Assam state government in 20 out of the state's 31 districts, said the state disaster management agency in a statement. Overall, nearly 500,000 people have been hit by the monsoon floods in the state.
“We are fully prepared to deal with the situation with our rescue agencies deployed at vulnerable and worst-affected locations,” said G.D. Tripathi, a state government official.
One of Asia’s largest rivers, the Brahmaputra, floods annually. It flows 1,280 kilometers (800 miles) across Assam state before running through Bangladesh, which shares a 260-kilometer (160-mile) border with Assam state.
Mudslides triggered by heavy rains have occurred in several parts of Assam and Sikkim states, the statement said.
In neighboring Meghalaya state, a mudslide demolished a boundary wall of a large sports stadium, damaging several vehicles parked there, media reports said.
In 2022, floods in India and Bangladesh left over a dozen dead and millions homeless.
Annual monsoon rains hit the region in June-September. The rains are crucial for rain-fed crops planted during the season but often cause extensive damage.
The pattern of monsoons has been shifting since the 1950s, with longer dry spells interspersed with heavy rain, according to Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune. Scientists say climate change is a factor behind the erratic rains that trigger unprecedented floods in Bangladesh and northeastern India, killing dozens and making lives miserable for millions of others.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.