Guwahati (AsiaNews
/ Agencies) - At least 33 people dead and 1.5 million persons displaced is the
provisional toll from the disaster caused by landslides and floods in Assam, Sikkim and Arunachal
Pradesh (northeastern states).
The Army and local and central
governments have launched joint
operations to move people to high
ground with helicopters. The authorities have also set up at least 100 refugee camps.
The largest number of victims is concentrated mainly in Sikkim: 21 are confirmed dead,
but eight others are still missing.
Four people were buried in the mud, in Arunachal Pradesh.
But it is in Assam
that the situation is most critical: because in this area alone
there are over 1 million people who
have lost their homes and are now
living in makeshift tents along
the roads. Already
in July, the northeastern
state was hit by
severe floods, which caused
at least 110 deaths and more than
500 thousand displaced.
Over the past 60 years,
governments have built levees along long stretches of the Brahmaputra River,
the main river of Assam, fed by the
melting of Himalayan snows.
However, experts say these banks are in poor
condition, and maintenance carried
out for disaster management is
insufficient.
The floods have
also inundated three national parks
of Assam. These include the Kaziranga National
Park, home to two-thirds of the world's
largest rhinoceros.