Worst flooding in more than a decade inundates 2,000 villages in India – Over 1 million displaced – Rhinos vulnerable to poaching

GAUHATI, India, 1 July 2012 (AP) – The death toll from monsoon rains in northeastern India has risen above 60, with more than 2,000 villages inundated as rivers breached their banks, an official said Sunday. More than a week of heavy rains in Assam state has caused the massive Brahmaputra river — one of Asia’s largest — to exceed danger levels. Smaller rivers have also overflown their banks. Floods and landslides have killed 62 people, Assam’s agriculture minister Nilomoni Sen Deka said. Deka said the disaster has affected about 2 million people. The state’s disaster management authority said thousands of homes have been destroyed and more than 480,000 people have sought shelter in government-run relief camps. There was no rain Sunday in most parts of the state but thunderstorms were forecast over the next 24 hours. The monsoon season in India begins in June and ends in September. Assam suffers flooding almost every year but this year’s disaster is the worst in at least a decade.

Flood toll rises to 62 in northeast India, hundreds of thousands seek shelter in relief camps

GUWAHATI, 1 July 2012 – With the current spell of floods and landslides claiming 77 lives in Assam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi are scheduled to visit the affected areas on Monday.

An official today said that 61 people died in floods and 16 in landslides, while six persons were reported missing. The report said all the 27 districts have been affected by floods while landslides have occurred in three districts. It said the Brahmaputra and the Kapili rivers were flowing above danger level at various places. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister and the UPA chairperson are slated to visit the state tomorrow to take stock of the situation. Singh and Gandhi are expected to reach Jorhat by a special flight and conduct an aerial survey of Majuli island, which has suffered serious damage in the flood. From there, they will come to Guwahati and hold talks with ministers and senior state government officials, before returning to Delhi. The government report said 2,166 villages across 113 revenue circles in the state were hit and 19.37 lakh people affected. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been deployed in 16 areas and rescue operations are on in nine districts. Besides, seven teams of army personnel have been deployed in Barpeta, Dhemaji, Dima-Hasao, Sibsagar, Sonitpur and Tinsukia districts. Large segments of the Kaziranga National Park remained under water. In Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, 80 per cent of the area inhabited by rhinos is under water.

77 dead in Assam floods, landslide;PM, Sonia to visit on Monday