Sunday, 3 August 2014

Thousands evacuated over flood fears in India's Bihar

Villagers with their belongings sit in a relief camp after their evacuation at Supaul district in the eastern Indian state of Bihar August 3, 2014.

Indian officials said water could inundate villages if the dam across the border suddenly broke

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Authorities in India have evacuated 44,000 people in the northern state of Bihar amid fears of flash floods from Nepal, officials say.
Water levels in the Kosi river, which originates in Nepal, rose dramatically after a landslide there on Saturday killed nine and left scores missing.
Officials say a huge amount of water has accumulated in a lake-like formation on the Nepal side.
Nearly 400 were killed in Bihar in 2008 after a dam on the Kosi burst in Nepal.
Officials said Saturday's landslide had created a mud wall that was blocking the Sunkoshi river which flows downstream into the Kosi.
On Sunday, the Nepalese army carried out controlled explosions to knock down part of the earth wall, allowing some water to flow out but much of it remained trapped.
Officials said the situation in Bihar was "not alarming" but this water could inundate villages and farms if the dam across the border suddenly broke.
"It would affect a large part of the state and may hit hundreds of thousands of people," news agency AFP quoted Vyas Ji, principal secretary of Bihar's disaster management department, as saying.
Disaster response teams and boats had been deployed for rescue operations with six military helicopters and navy diving teams on standby, the Indian government said in a statement.
Doctors and medical equipment were being sent to the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is visiting Nepal, "expressed concern" over the possible flooding and "directed that all possible assistance should be made available", the statement added.

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