At least 1,332 people have died so far in widespread flooding during the current monsoon season, the Indian Parliament was informed Friday. More than 1.44 million homes had been damaged, junior minister for agriculture Kanti Lal Bhuria said in reply to a question in the upper house of Indian Parliament. He said a total of 4,192 livestock had been lost and 6 million hectares of cultivated land damaged, according to details available from the Home Ministry. The minister said the erratic southwest monsoon had led to floods in some parts of the country while there was deficient rainfall in other parts. Reports from the northern Indian state of Rajasthan said funds allotted for drought relief were now being used by local authorities for flood relief. A week ago a senior official in Bhilwara district of the northern state of Rajasthan had prepared a report on below average rains in his area of jurisdiction, the Indian Express newspaper reported. He had suggested measures for tackling an impending drought. The same official Thursday had to prepare a flood damage assessment report after the area received double its annual average rainfall in two days of incessant rains. Water in all dams in the Bhilwara region was above danger level and the army had been called out for relief and rescue operations. The situation was similar in neighbouring Tonk district of Rajasthan.
