NEW DELHI: The death roll in the seasonal monsoon rains and ensuing floods went up to5 60 Thursday as the flood situation further deteriorated in West Bengal and Bihar in the east and in Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in the north.

The rains and floods claimed 19 6 lives in Uttar Pradesh, 184 in Rajasthan, 4 6 in Himachal Pradesh, 80 in Gujarat, 18 in West Bengal, 10 in Arunachal Pradesh and one in Punjab.

Three more persons died in the Kangra district of the hilly state of Himachal Pradesh. One person was buried in Khaniara slate quarry while two were washed away in Nurpur subdivision in the district.

The flood situation in West Bengal further worsened as people in Tamluk town in Midnapur district were alerted against possible flash deluge.

The flood situation in Jalpaiguri district in northern West Bengal worsened further following damage to two spurs—one at Bibigung and other on the down protection embankment of the Teesta River.

Heavy rains continued to lash parts of Uttar Pradesh Thursday raising the water level of major rivers.

In Bihar, swollen rivers sub merged fresh areas prompting authorities to intensify rescue and relief measures. The Pan pun river was flowing above the danger level at several places, flooding low-lying areas in Patna district More than 600,000 people have been affected in Bihar and standing crops in 50,000 hectare: damaged.

Article extracted from this publication >> July 27, 1990