Monsoon downpours kill 134 people in north India

[sobia khan]

At least 134 people have died in northern India over the last three days in unusually heavy late monsoon rains which have submerged streets, hospital wards and houses, officials said Monday.

Dozens of boats were pressed into service on streets overflowing with gushing rain water in Patna, the capital of the eastern state of Bihar, after torrential downpours far stronger the normal.

At least 27 people have lost their lives across the state and another 63 in neighboring Uttar Pradesh since Friday, authorities said.

India recorded the highest rainfall of a century during the month of September and 134 people have been killed in various accidents during the recent rains.

With more rain predicted, weather experts say September could end as the wettest in more than a hundred years.

“Patna alone has recorded some 226 millimeters (8.9 inches) of rainfall since Friday,” Bihar disaster response official M. Ramachandru said.

Photos showed patients lying on hospital beds in dirty rain water at the state-run Nalanda Medical College and Hospital in Patna.

It has also been raining heavily in southern India and in the western state of Gujarat.

In India, the monsoon season generally consists of 4 months, with an average rainfall of 877 mm from June to September but average rainfall has been recorded till September 29 this year, up to 956 mm which is the average of more than 9pc.

Following the September rainfall, India's Meteorological Department has recorded 247 millimeters of rainfall so far, which is 48pc above average.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department, 255 ml of rainfall was recorded in the month of September in 1983, but as the meteorological department has issued red alert in Gujarat and Bihar, it is likely that the quantity recorded in 1917 is 285 ml.

It will also exceed that the highest rainfall recorded since 1901.

According to Indian media, heavy rains have caused devastation in Gujarat, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh and 134 people have been killed, hundreds injured and thousands displaced in various accidents so far.

The highest number of 29 deaths was recorded in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh while 14 people were also killed in Madhya Pradesh on the last day.

In the Indian city of Patna, 26,000 people have been shifted to safer places, while around 1000 prisoners have also been shifted to other prisons in Uttar Pradesh.

The annual monsoon usually lasts from June to September.

With the Indian Meteorological Department Monday predicting excess rainfall across 15 states, this year’s monsoon will end as the wettest since 1917, the mass-circulation Times of India said.

“There are no signs of withdrawal for at least four-five days,” senior IMD officer Mrutyunjay Mohapatra told the daily.

The monsoon, which is vital for farmers across the South Asian region, killed some 650 people in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan in July this year.

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