Four die as rains drench western India

BHUJ, India (AFP) Jul 26, 2003
At least four people were killed and more than 1,500 evacuated to higher ground Saturday when a stretch of far-western India was submerged by more than half its annual rain in 24 hours, officials said.

The air force was surveying the Kutch district of Gujarat state near the border with Pakistan to arrange rescue for anyone marooned in low-lying areas.

"Four people have been killed in Kutch up to now. All authorities have been put on alert," said Subhash Trivedi, superintendent of police in the district headquarters at Bhuj.

The district has been hit by up to 200 millimeters (nearly eight inches) of rain over the past day, compared with 370 millimeters (14.5 inches) received in a normal year, meteorologists said.

The district's ports on the Gulf of Kutch connecting to the Arabian Sea were brought to a standstill by the heavy downpour.

Much of Kutch district was reduced to rubble in a January 2001 earthquake that killed more than 20,000 people.

Even as Gujarat was being pummelled, India's northeast, roiled by massive floods in the last month, has seen water levels recede in the past several days.

The northeastern state of Assam is still ravaged by water-borne diseases that have killed at least 170 people since the start of the annual floods a month ago.

TERRA.WIRE