NEW DELHI – Landslides in mountainous Nepal killed 11 people, and eight were reported dead when their boat capsized in India, bringing the death toll across South Asia from monsoon flooding to more than 300.
Torrential rains that began in mid-June have caused landslides, building collapses, drownings, electrocution and waterborne diseases across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Even as large areas of South Asia remained under water, officials in India worried that too much rain in the country’s east could mean a weak monsoon – perhaps a drought – for the northern and western region, where farmers are still waiting for the rains to sow crops.
The flooding in India’s east was likely to worsen with more rain forecast over the next few days, relief officials said. At least 179 people have been killed in India, which has suffered the largest number of deaths.
Eight people were reported dead when a boat ferrying them to safety across the Burhi Gandak River capsized, said Upendra Sharma, a relief official. Six more deaths were reported elsewhere in India’s eastern Bihar state.
In neighboring Assam state, water from the Brahmaputra River cut through its banks and poured into the capital, Gauhati.
At least 5 million people have been displaced or marooned in their homes in Assam, the government said.
Associated Press
Nessa Khatun works on a raft Wednesday near her submerged house in Bahshani village in northeast India.
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