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India

India: Monsoon Floods Emergency Plan of Action Operation Update n° 1 DREF n° MDRIN023

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A. SITUATION ANALYSIS

Description of the disaster

This year’s monsoon season which started in June continues to affect Indian states. The overflowing of Brahmaputra, Barak and Jia Bhoreli rivers caused flooding and landslides affecting 4.6 million people in 31 districts of Assam: Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Barpeta, Chirang, Golaghat, Jorhat, Sonitpur, Darrang, Nalbari, Bongaigaon, Morigaon, Nagaon, Majuli, Baksa, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Hojai, Sivsagar, Tinsukia, Cachar, Karbi-Anglong, West Karbi- Anglong, Hailakandi, Karimganj, Kamrup Metro, Dibrugarh and Udalguri.

In Bihar, flood waters breaching the embankment on the Kamla Balan River in Jhanjharpur, Madhubani district and Darbhanga, affected 2,000,000 people in 12 districts - Sheohar, Sitamarhi, East Champaran, Madhubani, Araria, Kishanganj, Supaul, Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur.

As of 22 July, floods in Assam and Bihar have claimed over 100 lives, affecting 11 million people with at least 130,000 displaced and sheltering in more than 600 relief camps and 240 relief distribution centres set up by district administrations. Furthermore, both states and health authorities are concerned that there is the risk of a vector-borne disease outbreak, like dengue and Encephalitis.

By 25 July, number of displaced people in Assam seeking temporary shelters at camps set up by the government further increased to 147,000. In Bihar, over 1 million people have been displaced by the flood waters in 55 blocks in 9 (Sheohar, Sitamarhi, East Champaran, Madhubani, Araria, Kishanganj, Supaul, Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur) out of the 12 affected districts.

Within the next few days (31 July), the situation in both states worsened as more than 1.2 million people were affected in Assam and Bihar and at least 651,000 people displaced in 1,552 relief camps. Approximately, 33,800 houses were reportedly destroyed in Assam, Kerala and Rajasthan.

Additional intense monsoon rains in August resulted in flooding in more states and further exacerbating the situation in the already affected states. As of 21 August, monsoon rains and widespread flooding have affected 11 Indian States (Maharashtra, Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Assam, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha and Punjab, with at least 1,149 fatalities and over 1.8 million people displaced. By 26 August the total fatalities increased to at least 1,326 people across 14 states following monsoon-related incidents (including 130 people in Bihar and 94 people in Assam).