Satu Desa Disapu Banjir, 23 Tewas 50 Hilang
Entire Villages Washed Away, 23 Dead and 50 Missing
Editor : Cahyani Harzi
Translator : Dhelia Gani
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SEDIKITNYA 23 orang tewas dan 50 lebih hilang setelah hujan deras mengakibatkan banjir bandang di India utara menyapu jalan, bangunan dan kendaraan bermotor.
Satu bangunan runtuh hari ini menewaskan sedikitnya tiga orang yang disapu ketika seluruh gedung apartemen terguling ke sungai, kata seorang juru bicara pemerintah.
Sebagian besar dari tanda kehancuran tersebut terkonsentrasi di negara bagian Uttarakhand, di mana sungai Gangga dan anak sungainya mengalir deras dan sangat berbahaya.
Lebih dari selusin orang tewas pada distrik di negara bagian Rudraprayag, sementara yang lain sekitar 50 orang hilang, menurut Amit Negi, seorang pejabat di Uttarakhand.
Tanah longsor lain juga dipicu oleh hujan monsoon yang membenamkan sebuah bus ke dalam lumpur dan menewaskan tiga orang di distrik Almora, seperti dilansir Mail Online.
Akibat dari bencana tersebut, memaksa banyak warga terjebak di dalam rumah akibat runtuhnya jalan dan jembatan.
Lebih dari 10.000 peziarah menuju situs keagamaan Hindu harus diungsikan oleh helikopter setelah jalan-jalan ke tempat ziarah tidak dapat digunakan.
Untuk mengatasinya, tentara dan pasukan paramiliter berupaya menyelamatkan puluhan orang dari atap dari rumah mereka yang dikepung banjir.
Pemerintah negara bagian telah menyiapkan paket makanan dan kantong air minum yang disalurkan melalui udara ke desa-desa yang terisolir karena banyak jalan yang rusak disapu banjir bandang.
Situasi ini sangat mencekam. Kantor meteorologi telah meramalkan bahwa hujan akan terus berlanjut selama tiga hari ke depan," kata seorang pejabat hari ini.
Otoritas negara juga sedang bersiap untuk mengevakuasi orang-orang dari distrik-distrik yang terkena dampak terparah dari banjir bandang.
Peringatan 'banjir' telah diterbitkan di seluruh kabupaten Udhampur dan di kota suci Hindu, Haridwar akibat sungai-sungai meluap.
Ibukota India, New Delhi, juga terpukul oleh hujan lebat sehingga dilanda banjir setelah berlalunya musim kemarau.
Bandara Delhi pun terkena dampaknya setelah hujan deras selama lima jam pada hari Minggu sore. Penumpang di bandara terlihat harus menyeberang jalan yang dilanda banjir untuk menuju ke Terminal 3.
Bencana banjir di India adalah kejadian rutin setiap tahun, yang tergantung pada hujan monsoon untuk pertanian.
Hujan deras seringkali menyebabkan hilangnya nyawa dan harta benda dan telah datang dua minggu awal tahun ini.
AT LEAST 23 people have died and 50 more remain missing after torrential downpours in northern India swept away roads, buildings and vehicles.
One building collapse today killed at least three people who were washed away when an entire apartment block toppled into a river, a government spokesman said.
Most of the destruction is concentrated in the state of Uttarakhand, where the Ganges river and its tributaries are flowing at dangerously high levels.
More than a dozen people have died in the state's Rudraprayag district alone, while another 50 people were missing, according to Amit Negi, an official in Uttarakhand.
Another landslide triggered by the monsoon rains buried a bus, killing three people in Almora district.
Adding to the crisis, many more people have been left totally stranded in their homes by collapsing roads and bridges.
More than 10,000 pilgrims on a mountain pass leading to a Hindu religious site had to be evacuated by helicopter after roads to the pilgrimage spot were unusable.
In response, army and paramilitary troops are leading efforts to rescue scores of people from the rooftops of their flooded homes.
The state government has prepared food parcels and drinking water pouches to be air dropped to villages cut off now that so many roads were washed away.
'The situation is very grim. The meteorological office has predicted that the rain will continue for another three days at least,' an official said today.
State authorities were also preparing to evacuate people from the worst-hit districts to relief camps, he said.
Flood warnings have been issued across Udhampur district and in the Hindu holy city of Haridwar as rivers breached their banks.
India's capital, Delhi, has also been hit by the heavy rains as many roads were flooded after recent blistering summer heat.
Delhi airport was affected after more than four inches of rain fell in five hours on Sunday afternoon. Passengers were seen having to wade knee-deep in water to get to Terminal 3.
The flooding is an annual occurrence in India, which depends on the monsoon rains for agriculture.
The heavy downpours often cause loss of life and property and has come two weeks early this year.
