Monsoon floods affect 1.5 million people in India's Bihar state

BiharNew Delhi  - Floods and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains have affected nearly 1.5 million people in India's eastern state of Bihar, officials said Monday.

All major rivers are flowing above the danger mark in the state where 33 people have died in rain-related incidents including house collapses.

Electricity supplies, road and train services were disrupted as floods submerged several areas in the state.

"More than 1,480,000 people in over 1,000 villages in 13 districts including Muzaffarpur, Supaul, Katihar, Nalanda have been affected," said an official in the National Disaster Management department.

He added that 57,411 people had been evacuated from low-lying areas and 27 relief camps had been opened to provide shelter.

Crops on thousands of hectares of land were damaged by the floods.

The rains eased since Sunday, but Bihar state authorities issued a health alert as teams of doctors and paramedics fanned out to the affected regions to prevent the outbreak of waterborne diseases.

More than 1,570 people died in the monsoon rains across India including the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, officials said.

India's monsoon season lasts from June to October but came a few weeks early this year. The rains are the heaviest in eastern India and gradually moved across in a north-westerly direction.

The seasonal rains in 2007 were the most devastating in recent memory, with more than 3,200 people killed across several states. (dpa)

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