Floods maroon thousands, kill 10 in eastern India
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-10-22 16:40

Tens of thousands of people were marooned by flooding in eastern India on Saturday after three days of torrential rains that killed at least 10 people, officials said.

The unseasonal rains came after the June-September monsoon, which this year triggered severe flooding in other parts of the country such as the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra in the west and Assam in the northeast.

"The situation is bad in four southern districts, but we are doing everything necessary," West Bengal state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta said.

Officials said at least 10 people had died in the coastal eastern state due to wall collapses and electrocution in the rains and some 50,000 people were cut off by floods.

Relief officials warned the situation could get worse for hundreds of thousands of people living in the Sunderbans region, where two rivers were close to bursting their banks.

Rains also hit life in Kolkata, eastern India's main trading hub, which was flooded for a second day after the city's century-old drainage system failed to cope with the water.

Cars and motorcycles floated in waist-deep water, while people waded their way around the city and residents of some low-lying areas used boats. Many shops and business establishments were closed and road traffic was thin.

During the monsoon season, floods and mudslides killed more than 1,000 people in western India. The country's financial hub, Mumbai, was brought to a standstill for four days when a record 94 cm of rain fell in 24 hours.