The death toll from floods in India neared 1,300 as villagers in inundated areas complained of tardy relief efforts with nearly 19 million people across the eastern states of Bihar and Assam and northern Uttar Pradesh stranded or displaced, according to dpa. At least 250 people have died during the latest wave of floods in these states, raising the countrywide death toll since the onset of the monsoon season in June to 1,294, Home Ministry officials said. Bihar, which has been the worst-affected state and saw over 11 million people displaced, witnessed further deaths as marooned villagers tried to move to safer places. Forty-seven drowned since Monday when three overcrowded boats capsized in different regions. While police estimated that 40 people were drowned in central Samastipur district, the PTI news agency reported seven more deaths in similar incidents in two other districts. Angry villagers complained that relief efforts were insufficient and slow even though floodwaters had receded and the areas were accessible. "There is no sign of government officials. As villagers go hungry amid such havoc in our villages, the state government has not bothered to distribute food items and essentials," Dhanesh Mondal, a villager in east Champaran district, told reporters. Bihar's neighbouring state of Orissa was also lashed by heavy monsoon rains leaving tens of thousands of people battling hunger and looking for shelter as they fled their flooded homes. A rain-swollen Rushikulya river in south Orissa disrupted road traffic in the region and submerged vast stretches of land. The incessant rains over the last four days killed 15 people, in incidents of lightning, drowning and incidents of house collapses, the IANS news agency reported quoting state officials. Hundreds of kilometres to the east, large parts of north-eastern Assam state remained inundated. Though flood waters receded with a let-up in the rains, millions were still living in relief camps and makeshift shelters. According to government data, an estimated 5.5 million people have been displaced in the flooding. The flood scene in the northern Uttar Pradesh state was steadily improving as major rivers like the Ghagra, Rapti and Rohin which were in spate and had affected large parts of 15 districts had begun to recede. More than two million people were affected in the region. Every year floods leave a trail of destruction across India, washing away villages, submerging agricultural fields, drowning livestock, and causing the loss of human life and property.
