{{Military helicopters carried out emergency food drops yesterday for thousands of people stranded by flash flooding from early monsoon rains which have killed at least 120 in northern India, officials said.}}
The states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have witnessed torrential rains at least three times as heavy as usual since last week when the annual monsoon broke a fortnight ahead of schedule.
Thousands of houses have been swept away in the flash floods and authorities are using helicopters to evacuate people and drop essential food supplies. “At least 110 people have died.
The state government and the army are trying to rescue thousands of tourists who are stranded near the submerged valleys and Hindu shrines,” said Jaspal Arya, the disaster relief minister of Uttarakhand.
Stranded pilgrims
Arya said portions of a Hindu temple were washed away on Tuesday and about 10,000 pilgrims were stranded. “The Kedarnath temple is submerged in mud and slush. We just hope that it does not collapse,” Arya told press.
Authorities have cancelled pilgrimage trips, fearing further rains and landslides in the state, often referred to as the “Land of the Gods” because of its many Hindu temples and Hindu religious sites.
Officials in Uttarakhand, the worst-hit state, said about 200 cars, two earthmoving equipment and even a parked helicopter had been swept away by floods.
The torrential rains began lashing the region on Saturday and local officials said 40 relief camps have been set up to provide food and water to locals and tourists.
{wirestory}
Leave a Reply