Indian floods toll 168

Press, 4 September 1982, Page 1

Indian floods toll 168

NZPA New Delhi Troops helped in rescue work, as big relief efforts continued to help thousands of flood victims in north and east India yesterday, AllIndia Radio reported.

Up to 168 people are believed to have died in the floods, which have hit four states and affected millions of villagers in low-lying areas. The State-run radio said that Air Force helicopters continued to drop food and other relief supplies to people .cut off by flood waters.

Big rivers, swollen by heavy monsoon rains, have flooded areas in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, the eastern states of Orissa and Bihar, and the central state of Madhya Pradesh. Flood waters in Orissa and in some parts of Uttar Pradesh are believed to be receding.

The floods have reached the Bihar state capital, Patna, for the first time in seven years. The Ganges River reached its highest level there since 1975. In Uttar Pradesh, more

than 35,000 houses have crumbled, 800,000 hectares of crops have been submerged, and more than 2000 villages are isolated, according, to reports reaching New Delhi. In Orissa, officials said the floods have affected ten million people in an area of 80,000 square kilometres. As the floods recede, Orissa faces the task of restoring transport and communications, plugging breached river embankments, and getting food to stranded people. Army power boats and special flood squads from neighbouring West Bengal helped in the rescues.

The full damage to crops and property has not yet been estimated but the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh said that crops worth about 100 million rupees (about $l5 million) had been washed away in his state.

The Chief Minister of Orissa, Mr J. B. Patnaik, said that nearly three million hectares of farmland had been flooded and about 10 million residents displaced.