BIJU BORO / AFP / Getty
New Delhi – Floods caused by heavy seasonal rains have killed more than 80 people in Northeast India. The flood has forced more than 2.5 million people to flee their homes since May in Assam state, known for its lush green tea gardens and famous wildlife park.
Flood waters have razed more than 10,000 homes across the state, forcing authorities to establish 300 relief camps in the region. However, relief work has been hampered by increasing number of coronavirus cases in the country.
More than 1.1 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Monday, and the disease has killed more than 27,000 people in India. In crowded relief camps, imposing social distancing and wearing masks has proven to be a challenge for the authorities.
Several hundred villages have been completely isolated by the high waters, which has made relief and rescue work even more difficult.
Authorities say 85% of the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, home to approximately 2,500 endangered rhinoceroses, is underwater. According to park authorities, more than 100 animals, including nine of the rhinos, drowned in the floods until Monday. The vast majority of the world’s surviving single-horned rhinos live in Kaziranga.
Anupam Nath / AP
Authorities said wild buffalo, wild boar, swamp deer and pig deer were among the other animals found dead.
The flood has pushed the wildlife of the national park onto elevated trails and closer to humans in the area. Authorities tweeted a video of rangers and police guiding traffic around one of the rhinos after it appeared to be exhausted on a busy highway near the park over the weekend.
“I can say that it is one of the worst floods in the state and in the park in recent times,” Assam’s forest minister Parimal Suklabaidya told the AFP news agency.
The Assam government said on Monday that the Brahmaputra River, known as the “Sorrow of Assam” for its tendency to burst its banks and flood surrounding villages, was running “above the danger mark” in 24 of the 33 districts of the state.
The river, which flows through Tibet, Bangladesh and India, opened its banks in Assam last month, flooding large swaths of the state. In the broader region, including eastern India, Nepal and Bangladesh, this year’s monsoon rains and floods have killed more than 200 people and displaced 4 million.
That figure includes 67 deaths and 2.6 million people who have been displaced in Bangladesh.
Authorities in all three countries have warned that there could be more damage and destruction due to the floods, as more precipitation is forecast. Annual monsoon rains generally fall between June and September, causing deadly flooding and destruction in the region each year.
.
