India: hundreds of thousands of people threatened by flooding in the north-east of the country – franceinfo

Up to two meters of water submerged many villages. Floods of rivers and streams continue Monday, August 30, in northeast India, where hundreds of thousands of people are stranded on the roofs of their homes or have fled to the heights after further torrential rains.

For more than a week, the rain has been raining down on this region and has brought out of their beds the Brahmaputra and other large rivers in the states of Assam and Bihar. Experts believe that the annual flooding that hits this area is worsening due to climate change.

Authorities released water from a dam, fearing the dam’s walls would collapse. Tens of thousands of people are stranded in villages isolated by the floods. State governments said more than 400,000 of them had been moved to high places.

Authorities in Bihar have sent boats to rescue residents, but these boats are concentrated in the worst affected districts.

The floods also threaten a reserve listed as World Heritage by Unesco, the first world protection area for the one-horned rhinoceros in India (more than 2,000 animals). About 70% of the 430 km2 of Kaziranga National Park in Assam state are underwater, threatening rhinos, elephants and wild boars.