This article is from the source 'independent' and was first published or seen
on .
It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
Indian monsoon rains kill 81 and leave over 9,000 stranded
Indian monsoon rains kill 81 and leave over 9,000 stranded
(35 minutes later)
Dozens of people have been killed as monsoon rains engulfed wide areas of Gujarat state in western India and thousands of others have been forced to leave their flooded homes.
Early monsoon rains have killed at least 81 people in in India’s western Gujarat state an official said on Friday.
Around 9,000 people were evacuated to higher ground in rural areas that have been worst hit by the rains. At least 81 people have been killed, many of them swept away by flood waters and mudslides, or buried in collapsed houses, according to Ridhi Butt, an official with the National Disaster Response Force.
Ridhi Butt, a National Disaster Response Force official, said the majority of deaths have been due to people being swept away by floodwaters and mudslides, or buried in collapsed houses.
More than 1,000 Hindu pilgrims were also stranded on the mountain paths leading to the Hindu shrines of Kedarnath and Badrinath in northern Uttrakhand state, because of the rains. Workers are clearing roads to restore the pilgrimage route, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
He nearly 9,000 people had been evacuated to higher ground in the south of the state. More than 1,000 Hindu pilgrims in Gujarat, which is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, have been left stranded on paths leading to sacred shrines of Kedarnath and Badrinath in northern Uttrakhand state.
Muslim worshippers gather in prayer despite the flooding in Kolkata
Muslim worshippers gather in prayer despite the flooding in Kolkata, India
The monsoon has covered nearly the entire country, with the rains arriving days ahead of schedule. As well as Gujarat, parts of Assam state in the north-east were flooded and a swollen river breached its banks in the northern Jammu-Kashmir state.
The national disaster response and emergency services are still trying to clear the roads, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
India’s financial capital of Mumbai was also badly hit last week when torrential showers closed public transport and led to a breakdown in public services.
The monsoon rains have arrived ahead of schedule in west and north India, with India’s financial capital, Mumbai, hit by torrential showers which closed train stations and brought public services grinding to a halt.
The rains follow a heatwave last month that killed more than 2,000 people across the country, with India’s Meteorological Department saying that it expected a drier July than average.
Monsoon season, between June and September, sees the country receive 80 per cent of its annual rainfall.
Neighbouring Pakistan has had a heatwave of its own to contend with in recent days, and Anwar Kazmi, of the Edhi Foundation, a private charity that runs a network of ambulances and mortuaries claimed that the death toll there had reached more than 1,150 around the around the port city of Karachi.
Mumbai has been hit by heavy monsoon rains
Mumbai has been hit by heavy monsoon rains
Sea breezes meant that thermometers across the city fell to around 36C, after temperatures had previously reached up to 45C. The heatwave coincided with power failures that triggered sharp criticism of the government’s response. The power cuts left many without fans, water or light at the beginning of Ramadan, when many Muslims do not eat or drink anything during daylight hours.
The rains come after India suffered the second deadliest heatwave on record which killed 2,500 people.
Mass funerals were held for 50 unidentified victims before their bodies were hastily buried. “We waited for three days for any claimants to come forward, and now we are going to bury the 50 bodies,” Amanullah Khan, of the Edhi Foundation, told Reuters.
A further 1,000 people have been killed by the heat in neighbouring Pakistan.
Some of the victims appeared to be homeless. “Before we bury them, we take photographs and issue tag numbers in case any claimants turn up later and can identify the body,” he added.
Earlier this month, India's Earth Sciences Minister Harsh Vardhan blamed climate change for the extreme weather as a UN panel on climate change warned that the country looks set to experience more freak weather patterns if world temperatures continued to rise.
India, which is the third highest admitter of greenhouse gases, but Modi has so far resisted calls for it to cut carbon emissions.
Submerged rail lines in Mumbai: public services and transport in the capital have been shut down by the downpours
Submerged rail lines in Mumbai: public services and transport in the capital have been shut down by the downpours
Qamar uz Zaman Chaudhry, the Islamabad-based special adviser for Asia to the UN World Meteorological Organisation, said of the crisis in Pakistan: “These types of event are taking place across the world. We need to prepare ourselves and develop our strategy. It’s time to learn lessons, instead of getting into the blame game,” he told Reuters.
His ministers have said that because India's per capita energy consumption is much lower than in the West, the poorer country should not be held to the same standards as developed nations.
Pakistan’s national and local political parties have blamed one another for the crisis, while much of the relief was provided by the powerful military and private charities.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press and Reuters
