GUWAHATI, India (AP) — Floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains have killed at least 16 people in northeastern India in the past two weeks and displaced more than 300,000 people from their flooded homes, authorities said Tuesday.
The Indian army and air force have been helping with rescue efforts in Assam, one of the worst-hit states. Early Tuesday morning, a military helicopter brought 13 fishermen to safety after they were stranded for four days on a small island in the Brahmaputra, one of Asia’s largest rivers, officials said.
The Brahmaputra River, which flows 1,280 kilometers (800 miles) through the state of Assam before flowing through Bangladesh, floods annually. This year, however, increased rainfall has made the river, already known for its powerful, unpredictable currents, even more dangerous to live near or on the more than 2,000 island villages in its center.
In the neighboring state of Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China, landslides have swept away several roads. Army troops there rescued 70 students and teachers from a flooded school in Changlang district, police said. Similarly, severe flooding in the states of Sikkim, Manipur and Meghalaya has swept away roads and collapsed bridges.
More than 80 people have died in six northeastern states since late May due to flooding and mudslides triggered by the rains, according to official figures.
Back in Assam, animals in the famous Kaziranga National Park, home to some 2,500 one-horned rhinos, are moving to higher ground to escape the floods. Park rangers are monitoring their movements to ensure their safety, said Himanta Biswa Sarma, the state’s chief minister.
Disasters caused by landslides and floods are common in the country’s northeastern region during the monsoon season from June to September. India, and the state of Assam in particular, is considered one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to climate change due to more intense rainfall and flooding, according to a 2021 report by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, a climate think tank in New Delhi.
