By RIA Novosti,
New Delhi : Indian authorities have evacuated more than 400,000 people from the flood-hit state of Bihar, in the northeast of the country, a spokesman for the local administration said on Monday.
Heavy monsoon rains in Bihar have spread throughout the state’s 15 districts, causing the worst floods in the last 50 years. The floods have left at least 76 people dead and over a million homeless.
Tens of thousands of people are also reported to have been displaced in neighboring Nepal.
More than 1,500 villages have been flooded and large areas of farmlands have been damaged since the Kosi River – known as the “Sorrow of Bihar” – burst its banks two weeks ago.
Nearly 150,000 people have been given shelter in 170 relief camps set up in the affected districts, while at least one million remain stranded.
Locals said the rescue operation was failing, as the shelters are overcrowded and lacking food, while many people in remote villages have been abandoned to fend for themselves.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the floods as a “national calamity,” and promised to send 125,000 tons of food in aid to the region
India’s monsoon season, which usually occurs from early July to September, is vital for agriculture, but regularly inflicts major destruction.