World | India
Thousands of India flood victims return to villages
More than 10,000 flood victims rushed back to their homes from state-run relief camps as water receded from nearly 250 villages more than three weeks after a monsoon-swollen river flooded northern India's vast plains, officials said Friday.
- AP
- Published: 20:31 September 12, 2008
Patna: More than 10,000 flood victims rushed back to their homes from state-run relief camps as water receded from nearly 250 villages more than three weeks after a monsoon-swollen river flooded northern India's vast plains, officials said on Friday.
The villagers, eager to return to their houses, ignored official advice to stay longer at the relief camps, where free food and health care are available, said state disaster management official Prataya Amrit.
Authorities began spraying insecticide to kill mosquitoes in the villages, Amrit said. The villagers set out for their homes from the relief camps on Thursday.
Flood water has drained out of nearly 250 villages, Amrit said, adding that 750 other villages were still under up to 1.2 metres of water in the five worst-hit districts of Bihar state.
Authorities have set up 189 health centres and 1,640 toilets for more than 300,000 flood victims living in 326 state-run relief camps, he said.
Diarrhea is the most common complaint among the flood victims in the relief camps, but doctors have been able to prevent any epidemics through immunisation drives, said Deepak Kumar, the state health secretary.
Related Links
"Availability of medicines is not an issue," Amrit said.
More than 1.2 million people were driven from their homes by the flooding and have been living in relief camps or with friends or relatives, Amrit said.
High death toll
Authorities have confirmed 42 deaths, but it is widely believed the final toll from the floods will be much higher.
On August 18, the Kosi River, a Ganges tributary that flows from Nepal to India, burst its banks on the Nepali side of the border and flowed into a channel it had abandoned a century earlier.
The water flooded more than 1,000 villages in India's Bihar state and 150,000 hectares of farmland, Amrit said. The relief camps will remain open for another six months.
News Editor's choice
-
6,000 cups and counting: Addicted to that tea
This cafeteria in Al Mamzar attracts thousands of customers daily, including the rich and not so rich
-
Swimming pool horror: Twins hospitalised
Twins rushed to hospital after collapsing from chlorine inhalation at swimming pool in their villa
-
Play your cards right with credit card interest
UAE Central Bank plans to cap interest rates, but are you paying thirty-five per cent now?
