Sharjah24 – AFP: More than three million people have been affected by the annual monsoon deluge as torrential rains pummel eastern India, officials said Wednesday, with villagers fleeing to higher ground and wildlife sanctuaries underwater.
Monsoons are crucial to replenishing water supplies after the scorching summer season but also cause widespread death and destruction across South Asia each year.
The storms have been worsened by climate change, experts say.
India's poorest state Bihar and wildlife-rich Assam have been hit by incessant rains for a week, with swollen rivers bursting their banks and stranding thousands of people in villages.
In Assam, water levels for the Brahmaputra -- a mighty transborder Himalayan river system -- have risen above their "danger levels", a water resource department official said.
Villager Amshar Ali said locals were struggling with basic needs.
The homes of villagers in other low-lying areas were also inundated with floodwaters, forcing them to take shelter at nearby embankments and roads.
More than 3.2 million people in over 2,200 villages in 17 districts in Bihar have been impacted by the rising waters since last week, authorities said.
Some 215,000 people were evacuated from their homes.
Since the start of the monsoon season in June, some 43 people have died in Bihar, according to official data.
The India Meteorological Department said the heavy downpours could continue in the two states until Thursday.
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