Floods wreak havoc in Bihar; millions hungry
Web posted at: 8/6/2007 8:30:13
Source ::: Agencies

patna � Surging floods inundated scores of villages yesterday across northern India, claiming lives, washing away homes and crops and driving fearful residents onto their roofs to pray.

The Ganges and other swollen rivers burst their banks in Bihar state. About 10.8 million people, of the state�s 82 million, have been affected in nearly 5,000 villages across 18 of Bihar�s 38 districts in what officials say has been the worst flooding in three decades, preliminary estimates by the disaster management department say.

State chief minister Nitish Kumar said he was deploying his senior cabinet colleagues in flood-hit districts to speed up rescue and relief operations. Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister Shivraj Patil will visit the flood-affected areas tomorrow.

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