The heaviest monsoon rains to lash India in 25 years have killed more than 1,600 people since June, government data showed, as authorities battled floods in two northern states and muddy waters swirled inside a major city.
The monsoon, which typically lasts between June and September, has already delivered 10 percent more rain than a 50-year average, and is expected to withdraw only after early October, more than a month later than usual.
The extended rains have wreaked havoc, with northern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states the worst hit in the latest spell of intense downpours, killing 144 people since last Friday, according to the officials.
In Patna, Bihar’s riverside capital city that is home to around two million people, residents said they were wading through waist-deep water to buy essential items like food and milk.
Saket Kumar Singh, who lives in the city’s Boring Road area, said he was stranded for four days, with about two feet of water inside his house.
“There was no electricity, and despite having money I was helpless,” Singh, 45, said.
In neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, heavy rains have brought down more than 800 homes and swathes of farmland are submerged.
Data released by the federal home ministry shows that 1,673 people have died because of floods and heavy rains this year, as of Sept 29.
India’s flood prevention and forecasting systems are lacking, other experts say, even as the total flood prone area in the country has increased in recent decades because of deforestation, degradation of water bodies, and climate change.
