The incessant rains and subsequent floods and landslides killed at least 85 people in India and another 31 in Nepal. Aerial images show a chaotic and devastated scenery in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, which is particularly affected by the floods. Crops are destroyed, roads and bridges swept away, villages submerged. The Nainital area was cut off from the rest of the state in the north of the country after roads were blocked by landslides or swept away. While some videos shared on social networks show how the Ganges river overflowed into the city of Rishikesh. Although these phenomena are common in the north of the country, influenced by the Himalayas, according to scientists they are becoming more frequent due to global warming and the consequent melting of glaciers.
Nepal, floods and landslides due to monsoons. Rescue is difficult in the most remote areas
Rescuers worked all night to recover bodies stuck in the debris and to evacuate people living in vulnerable areas, he told the news agency. Reuters Sa Murugeshan, Secretary of State for Disaster Management. But there are fears that the number of victims could increase in the coming days.
In Nepal, too, the authorities continue to work to provide relief to citizens and find 43 missing persons. The spokesman for the country’s police, Basanta Kunwar, he said more than two dozen people were injured and transferred to local hospitals across the country. Persistent rains were hampering efforts to reach a village in western Nepal where 60 people were stranded by the river. TV channels showed footage of submerged paddy fields and flooded rivers sweeping away bridges, roads and homes. These phenomena are frequent in India and Nepal in the monsoon seasons which usually begin in June and end in September.
Guterres: “It’s time to make peace with nature, if we want a planet where we can live”
by Manuel Planelles
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