Scores Feared Dead In Massive India Flooding

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

NEW DELHI (Worthy News) – At least 18 people were confirmed killed, but about 100 others remained missing Thursday in the north-east Indian state of Sikkim after heavy rain caused a glacial lake to burst its banks, authorities said.

Soon, flash floods came down a mountain valley in the worst such disaster in the region in more than 50 years.

The catastrophic overflow of Lhonak Lake occurred after five times the usual amount of rain fell on the state during a cloudburst, causing a dam to partially collapse in the Teesta Valley, close to the border with China, witnesses said.

The disaster affected more than 22,000 people, according to the authorities, and 22 army personnel are among the missing.

It has also left over 3,000 tourists stranded after the floods washed away the main highways and bridges in a nation struggling with infrastructure issues.

It is the latest deadly weather event in South Asia’s mountains that several environmentalists blame on climate change, though differences remain on the causes of the weather pattern.

Indian meteorologists said Sikkim received 101 mm (4 inches) of rain in the first five days of October, more than double normal levels. That was unleashing floods worse than one in October 1968 in which an estimated 1,000 people were killed.

MORE HEAVY RAIN

Weather authorities predicted heavy rain over the next three days in parts of Sikkim and neighboring states.

Officials said the latest flooding was exacerbated by water released from state-run hydropower company NHPC’s Teesta V dam.

Four of its gates had been washed away as they had not been opened in time, authorities confirmed.

As of Thursday evening, 98 people were reportedly missing, 17 of whom were army personnel, state chief secretary V.B. Pathak told Reuters news agency.

Fourteen bridges had been washed away, hampering rescue operations already affected by heavy rainfall. Pathak said 18 relief camps had been opened on Thursday, where food and medical assistance were being provided.

Authorities in neighboring Bangladesh were on alert as well. A state-run water development board official warned that five districts in the northern part of the country could be inundated with a rising Teesta River, which enters Bangladesh downstream of Sikkim.

Bangladesh has been suffering severe flooding on numerous occasions. Last year, more than 7 million people desperately needed shelter and emergency relief after what aid workers said was “the worst flooding to hit South Asia in living memory.”

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