
KOCHI, India: Residents are evacuated from their homes to a safer place on a wooden boat in the Indian state of Kerala yesterday. - AFP
NEW DELHI: Floods
have killed at least 100 people and displaced hundreds of thousands across much
of India with the southern state of Kerala worst hit, authorities said
yesterday. With rains predicted to worsen in coming days, the government
ordered military teams to form rescue units and airlift food to stranded
villages across Kerala. At least 48 people have died since Thursday in floods
in Kerala, where the beaches and hill resorts are a major international tourist
magnet, state police spokesman Pramod Kumar told AFP.
In neighboring
Karnataka, at least 24 people have been killed with nine people missing. The
western states of Maharashtra and Gujarat have also been badly hit by annual
monsoon storms. Media reports said at least 27 people have lost their lives in
Maharashtra, with several major roads closed by floods. Storm accidents killed
eight people in the key Gujarat cities of Ahmedabad and Nadiad. The worst fears
are for Kerala where the police spokesman said about 120,000 people have moved
into emergency relief camps.
"There are
around 80 places where flood and rains have triggered mudslides, which we
cannot reach," Kumar added. "About 200 people are stranded at one
place. We are trying to use air force helicopters to drop food to them."
Kerala's main airport at Kochi has been closed since Friday. Kuwait Airways
announced on Friday that it had suspended all flights from and to Kochi owing
to bad weather conditions. Kuwait's national carrier said in a statement that
it would resume flights to the flood-hit city once weather conditions improve.
About 500 people died in floods in the state last year which were the worst in
nearly a century.
More than 600
relief camps in Karnataka are now filled with 161,000 people, a state disaster
management authority official told AFP. "The rains have eased in the
region and we think the water will soon start to recede. There are parts of
northern Karnataka, coastal regions and the Western Ghats which are badly
hit," the official added. While the monsoon rains are crucial to
replenishing water supplies, they kill hundreds of people every year. -
Agencies