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Floods worsen in eastern India

In the eastern Indian state of Orissa almost five-million people have been affected by severe flooding - a five-fold increase in numbers over the past 48-hours.

At least 42 people have been killed and more than six million affected by the disaster.

From New Delhi, Neeraj Bali reports.

It has been described as the worst flooding in Orissa's history. The western and coastal regions of the state have been hit the hardest by the floods triggered by unusually heavy monsoon rains. More than four-thousand houses have been washed away and over 18-thousand badly damaged. The army has been called in to assist the airforce and relief and rescue operations. Cases of diahhorea and gastro-enteritis have been reported from some areas but health authorities have described them as sporadic cases. The worst affected districts of India's poorest state are the same as those devastated by a cyclone in 1999 which killed almost ten thousand people.

21/07/01 6:05:42 | ABC Radio Australia News

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