Monsoon misery spreads to NE India

Rising floodwaters have forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes in northeastern India.

Flooding in Assam state has affected more than 1 million people and disrupted road networks for a second day.

Animals fled to higher ground in Kaziranga National Park after the Brahmaputra burst its banks and flooded most of the park, home to more than half of the world's population of one-horned rhinoceros.

At least two rhino calves were drowned and a herd of 100 elephants were swept away by floodwaters, forest officials said.

"We are now worried the poachers will take advantage and kill rhinos and elephants as they are moving out of the protected areas to safer ground," said chief warden SN Buragohain.

In the eastern state of Bihar, the floods have already displaced about 3 million people and killed at least 90.

Hundreds of stick-wielding villagers ransacked a food warehouse in Madhepura district and looted food packets while police guarding the warehouse ran for cover. Government vehicles carrying food were also looted.

"We cannot stop incidents despite our best efforts," said Bijendra Prasad Yadav, a state relief official. "These are very common during flood time."

Many villagers in impoverished Bihar have been marooned on rooftops for days with nothing to eat, while others have taken to eating plants and leaves to survive.

The Kosi river burst a dam in Nepal late last month flooding hundreds of villages across the state and destroying 250,000 acres of farmlands.

Although floodwaters are rising in Assam and Bangaldesh, water levels in Bihar are receding and the government aims to evacuate all stranded villagers within the next three days.

Since the monsoon began in South Asia in June, more than 1,000 people have died in floods, with most of the casualties recorded in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh in July.

Aid agencies have criticised the government's handling of the crisis saying they should have done more to anticipate the disaster and plan relief operations since the region is hit by monsoon flooding every year.

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.