India's 'River of Sorrows' Threatens More Floods

PATNA, India, Aug 26, 2008 — -- Rising rivers in eastern India swamped new areas and destroyed homes on Tuesday, affecting more than 2 million people, as some frustrated villagers beat up officials and others remained glued to radio weather bulletins.

Torrential rains have killed more than 1,000 people in South Asia since the monsoon began in June, mainly in India's states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh but also in Nepal and Bangladesh.

The Koshi river in the eastern state of Bihar, one of India's poorest regions, has broken its mud embankments in several places. The river also broke a dam in neighbouring Nepal, worsening the floods, Bihar officials said.

Local people call the Koshi the "Sorrow of Bihar" for its regular floods and ability to quickly change course. Thousands of people in the state have taken refuge on embankments, roads and mounds.

"The Koshi river has changed its course and nearly 20-25 lakh (2-2.5 million) people of the areas have been affected," Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of the state, said after an aerial survey of the flood situation.

Some experts blame the floods on heavier monsoon rains caused by global warming.

Last year, floods in eastern India and Bangladesh killed around 2,000 people. Millions were affected and officials fear climate change will make similar disasters more frequent.

Others accuse some states of not spending enough money on disaster prevention efforts.

In India's most populous northern state of Uttar Pradesh, the toll from this year's floods rose to 721, with four more deaths reported overnight, officials said.

MORE RAIN

Indian authorities, in a statement released in New Delhi, warned of more rain in eastern India, including Bihar, with heavy falls in the next 4-5 days.

Angry villagers in Bihar beat up government officials and a politician in flood-hit Araria district near the Nepal border, when they arrived on a fact-finding trip.

"Their anger is natural since they never thought that floods would leave them stranded in this way and they were not prepared to face the floods which happened suddenly," Suraj Kumar Sinha, a senior state official, said by telephone on Tuesday.