One killed, 400,000 displaced in floods in India's Assam state

Jul 5, 2009, 10:26 GMT

New Delhi - One person was drowned and up to 400,000 villagers displaced in floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains in India's north-eastern state of Assam, a news report said Sunday.

Police said a tribal villager was drowned when his boat capsized late Saturday near the river island of Majuli in Jorhat district, some 320 kilometres east of Assam's main city of Guwahati, the IANS news agency reported.

'The elderly villager was on a boat trying to get essentials for his family when it capsized. His body was recovered later,' a police official told the IANS on telephone.

This was the first flood-related death in Assam since the monsoon rains began at the end of June.

The current wave of flooding in the past week has left about 400,000 people displaced in about 500 villages in the four districts of Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Jorhat and Nagaon.

Assam revenue and rehabilitation minister Bhumidar Barman said the flood situation was 'grim' and rescue teams were helping villagers shift from low-lying and inundated areas.

Most of the displaced people were lodged in makeshift shelters on raised embankments. The state agencies were providing food and medical supplies to the flood-hit villagers.

Almost every year, monsoon-driven floods cause numerous deaths as overflowing rivers submerge villages and farmland. The monsoon season in India lasts from June to October.

According to the federal home ministry, more than 2,750 people died during the monsoon season across India last year. Nearly 28 million people, most of them living in rural areas, were affected across 16 states.