Rains, flooding kill dozens in India

Monsoon rains have collapsed mud huts and flooded wide swaths of north and east India, killing at least 48 people in recent days and leaving hundreds of thousands of people marooned by the raging waters, officials said Monday, according to AP. Those stranded were taking shelter atop trees, hills and rooftops in eastern Orissa state and the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. National rescue helicopters were dropping food parcels in hard-to-reach areas, while hundreds of boats were being used to ferry the stranded to safety. But the rains, expected to continue for another two days, were holding up rescue efforts, officials said. All 31 people killed over the weekend in eastern villages of Uttar Pradesh state died "when the roof of their mud houses collapsed," Relief Commissioner K.K. Sinha said. The state offered compensation of about $2,200 to victims' families. "Many of them died in their sleep," said P.K. Upadhaya, a district magistrate in Jaunpur, where 18 of the deaths occurred. "Heavy rainfall hampered the rescue operation." Another 17 people were swept away over the weekend by surging floodwaters in eastern Orissa state, where more than 130,000 have been evacuated from low-lying areas near rivers that burst their banks, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister S.N. Patra said. Since the monsoon began in August more than 70 people have died in Orissa. The state's chief minister this week widened the evacuation area, while the Indian Air Force was ordered to send more aircraft to help. Hundreds of thousands were scrambling into trees or on top of buildings to escape the rising waters. The northern Bihar state, where 12 southern districts were inundated after dams in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh states burst, engineers were ordered to cancel holidays and guard the riverbanks from further erosion, Water Resources Minister Vijendra Choudhary.