MONSOON FLOODS 4.5 million acres of farms affected

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32708, 10 September 1971, Page 11

MONSOON FLOODS 4.5 million acres of farms affected

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter —Copyright) NEW DELHI, September 9. Soldiers using floodlights battled through the night to build flood defences as the death toll from monsoon floods in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh reached 300. Lashing rains hampered troops building or repairing embankments along the swelling Gomati River, a tributary of the Ganges.

More than 232,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged in 27,000 villages in 50 of the 54 districts of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state. More than 4.5 million acres of farmland, accounting for one-fifth of the state’s total crops have been hit by the floods. About a third of Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh state capital, was under water last night as the River Gomati rose 10 feet above the danger level. 10,000 moved Another 10,000 inhabitants of the city of 650,000 were moved yesterdav to government camps on higher.ground making a total of 35,000 who have been moved in the last three days. None of the main embankments in Lucknow has yet collapsed—a situation that would cause near-catastro-phic devastation. But in Ballia district, about 200 miles south-east of

Lucknow, two major embankments have been breached near the points where the Gomati flows into the Ganges and a sheet of water has spread over 400 square miles, affecting 1242 villages and a population of 400,000. Water 2ft to 3ft deep swirled through Lucknow’s central shopping area, the Citv zoo, and the telephone exchange. Most of the central area of the city was in darkness during the night after a main electric cable was suspected severed. Hard to find fault Efforts to find the fault were hampered by the floodwaters, which were 2ft deep in the power-house compound of the Lucknow electric supply undertaking. The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (Mr Kamlapathi Tripathi), meanwhile, was due to meet the Prime Minister (Mrs Indira Gandhi) today to appeal for massive aid from the central Government to flight the monsoon floods. Mr Tripathi described the situation in several districts of Uttar Pradesh as grave.

Army boats were trying to i ferry relief supplies to ; marooned communities, he i said. ■ ‘lnadequate’ relief Uttar Pradesh's approach , to the central Government comes after a protest yesterday from the neighbouring state of Bihar that the central Government allocation for flood relief in Bihar was inadequate. The New Delhi administration has given 460 million rupees ($55.7 million), but Bihar’s Chief Minister, Mr Bhola Shastri, who is in New Delhi for talks with central Government ministers on the floods, said at least an additional 130 million rupees ($19.3 million) was needed immediately. Meanwhile, the Ganges at Patna, the Bihar capital, began rising again after gradually falling for a few days. Latest reports said that the river was 13 inches above the danger mark. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are only two units in a great arc of state across 1000 miles of northern and north-eastern India affected by floods. 1200 dead On the basis of figures available so far, an over-all total of at least 1200 people are estimated to have died, though accurate figures are difficult to compute because of the disruption of communications and administration. In West Bengal state at least 110 people have been drowned and more than 450,000 houses have been damaged or destroyed, said a Government statement. Damage caused by the floods was put at 1000 million rupees (about $117.9 million), though unofficial reports say that the final total may be twice as high. Even the desert state of Rajasthan has suffered. Rainfall there has been twice the norma] this monsoon season, and yesterday five people were drowned in swollen rivers. The Associated Press reported that 75 people are feared to have drowned when a boat capsized yesterday in the flood-swollen Jalangi River near Krishnagar town, about 65 miles north-east of Calcutta.

The United News of India, quoting the District Magistrate, said that 85 people were aboard the boat and only 10 swam to the bank.