Over 300 killed in India floods
A t least 300 people have died in eastern and central India and more than six million others have been affected by floods that have submerged villages, washed away crops, destroyed roads and disrupted power and phone lines, officials said on Tuesday.
Heavy monsoon rains have caused rivers, including the mighty Ganges and its tributaries, to burst their banks forcing people into relief camps in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.
Government officials in Bihar, which has seen some of the worst flooding this year with almost 120 dead and more than five million affected, said the situation was serious.
In neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, where 43 people have died and over one million are affected, schools were closed in the cities of Varanasi and Allahabad as both the Ganges and Yamuna rivers crossed danger levels and flood waters continued to rise.
In the central state of Madhya Pradesh, where at least 70 have died since the onset of the monsoons in June and more than 40,000 homes partially or fully destroyed, almost 20,000 people have been evacuated to relief camps.
The Indian Meteorological Department has forecast more rains for central India over the next two days.
India usually experiences monsoon rains from June to September, which are vital for its agriculture -- making up 18 percent of its gross domestic product and provides employment for almost half of its 1.3 billion population.
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