Levels of lakes and rivers rose dangerously in parts of northern and western India Saturday as excess waters were released from several near-overflowing dams. Rains continued to lash the states of Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab leading to flash floods, house collapses and inundation of roads and rail tracks. The situation in Maharashtra, however, improved, UNI news agency reported. Floodwaters were receding in Assam as well, but their were reports of outbreaks of diarrhoea, dysentery and cholera in relief camps and flood-affected villages. Twenty-five people had died of water-borne diseases in Barpeta district of the state, NDTV television network reported. In the northern Indian hill state of Himachal Pradesh, three shepherds were washed away in flash floods along with about 60 cattle, UNI said. The state administration had issued a red alert and begun evacuating people in some districts fearing flooding of the Sutlej River owing to the formation of an artificial lake across the border in Tibet. Reports from the northern town of Kinnaur said the lake, caused by a landslide blocking the course of a tributary of the Sutlej, was a kilometer wide, 70 meters deep, and was growing alarmingly over the past four days. In Gujarat, there was a high alert on all low-lying areas along the Narmada river. The Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada was overflowing, NDTV television network reported.
