28 dead in landslides, floods in northeast India

Published September 23, 2014
— File photo by AP
— File photo by AP

GAUHATI: Landslides and flash floods triggered by two days of heavy rain have killed at least 28 people in India's remote northeast, officials said Tuesday.

At least 14 people have been killed in northern Meghalaya state. Another 14 deaths were reported in neighboring Assam state, where several districts, including the capital, Gauhati, were flooded.

In Assam's worst-hit district of Goalpara, 90 villages have been submerged and more than 150,000 people have been asked to leave their homes for higher ground, said district official Pritam Saikia.

Thousands of people who left were camped on a state highway as local authorities struggled to create relief shelters for them. In Gauhati, army troops and federal workers were trying to rescue trapped residents and army helicopters were on standby, said Anand Tiwary, the local superintendent of police.

Several neighborhoods were under waist-deep water. The rain halted for several hours Tuesday, but more rain was forecast for the next 36 hours.

The area is prone to flooding during the June-to-September monsoon season. In June, at least 11 people were killed in heavy flooding in Gauhati city.

Earlier this month, monsoon floods inundated Kashmir, killing more than 270 people in the Indian-held portion of the Himalayan region, which is divided between India and Pakistan.

Opinion

Editorial

Football elections
17 Nov, 2024

Football elections

PAKISTAN football enters the most crucial juncture of its ‘normalisation’ era next week, when an Extraordinary...
IMF’s concern
17 Nov, 2024

IMF’s concern

ON Friday, the IMF team wrapped up its weeklong unscheduled talks on the Fund’s ongoing $7bn programme with the...
‘Un-Islamic’ VPNs
Updated 17 Nov, 2024

‘Un-Islamic’ VPNs

If curbing pornography is really the country’s foremost concern while it stumbles from one crisis to the next, there must be better ways to do so.
Agriculture tax
Updated 16 Nov, 2024

Agriculture tax

Amendments made in Punjab's agri income tax law are crucial to make the system equitable.
Genocidal violence
16 Nov, 2024

Genocidal violence

A RECENTLY released UN report confirms what many around the world already know: that Israel has been using genocidal...
Breathless Punjab
16 Nov, 2024

Breathless Punjab

PUNJAB’s smog crisis has effectively spiralled out of control, with air quality readings shattering all past...