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Flood levels recede in India's desert state

Posted on: Tuesday, 29 August 2006, 02:43 CDT

JAIPUR, India (Reuters) - Relief workers in India's flood-affected western state of Rajasthan stepped up efforts to rescue thousands of stranded villagers on Tuesday, as water levels began to recede, officials said.

Flooding triggered by monsoon rains over the past week has killed almost 140 people and left hundreds of thousands of people displaced in the state, most in the district of Barmer -- a vast desert area dotted with villages bordering Pakistan.

Over 800,000 of Barmer's two million population have been affected by the floods with hundreds of people still missing.

"The death toll in floods in Barmer touched 103 as seven more bodies were recovered in the past 36 hours in the district," R.K. Meena, Rajasthan's relief secretary, told Reuters.

"We have stepped up relief operations as water has started to recede in some of the areas of the district."

Officials say the heavy rainfall is the worst in at least three decades in the arid state, normally known for drought and severe water shortages.

Barmer recorded 577 mm (22.7 inches) of rainfall in just three days -- more than double the average rainfall it usually receives for an entire year.

In western and southern India, more than 500 people have been killed and millions left homeless since the annual monsoon rains began in June.

In neighbouring Nepal, at least 10 people have died and 60 people are missing after weekend floods and landslides in the western parts of the Himalayan kingdom.

(Additional reporting by Gopal Sharma)

Source: REUTERS

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