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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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 Sun Jul 31, 2005 11:57 am Mumbai floods toll reaches 1,000 |
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Mumbai floods toll reaches 1,000
Residents demand action on cleanup
MUMBAI, India (CNN) -- Further rain is causing further misery in the city of Mumbai, which is trying to clean up after record-breaking rainfall resulted in deadly floods and landslides.
Flood waters were rising once again Sunday along with residents' alarm and agitation as authorities said 1,000 people had died in western India.
The city formerly known as Bombay was deluged with 37 inches of rain in 24 hours Tuesday -- the most any Indian city has ever received in one day.
As the monsoon rains moved back in Sunday, Mumbai's airport was shut down for a while and flights were redirected to New Delhi.
Parts of the rail network were also shut down, but some service had resumed by Sunday afternoon. In northern Mumbai, waters were rising steadily; in some parts of the city, water levels had already reached 7 feet.
The local government has issued an advisory asking residents to stay inside. Earlier this week, some residents died in their cars because the water rose so rapidly, and some residents were also electrocuted because of downed power lines.
Some Mumbai residents have had no water, electricity or garbage pickup since the flooding. Angry residents confronted local officials Sunday, with some of them throwing stones.
Tens of thousands of animal carcasses floated in the flood waters, raising concerns about the possibility of disease.
South of the city, several hundred people died in landslides. Authorities have brought in heavy equipment to excavate, but any hope of finding survivors has waned.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Mumbai on Thursday, pledging to dedicate millions of dollars in aid to help residents recover and rebuilt.
On Thursday, 22 people, including several children, were killed in a stampede that was prompted by rumors of a collapsed dam from the flooding.
Other rumors were that a tsunami or a super cyclone was coming. Newspapers warned of the threat of waterborne diseases, and hospitals and health centers geared up to distribute free medicines to check any outbreak, the Associated Press reported.
Hundreds of residents in five Mumbai districts raised anti-government slogans and blocked traffic for more than five hours on Saturday to demand an immediate cleanup of the city, AP reported.
"For so many days we have been lifting the bodies of the dead and now we are clearing animals from the roads. Is this our work?" asked a furious Hafeez Irani, his face covered with a handkerchief against the stench.
"The drains are choked. We still have no electricity," said Irani, a construction worker.
Civic leaders pleaded for patience. They claimed equipment and workers to clear roads and drains were being called in from other areas hit by landslides.
CNN's Satinder Bindra contributed to this report.
Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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madlilnerd
Duchess of Dancemat
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 5885
Location: Slough, England
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| Sun Jul 31, 2005 4:10 pm |
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That sounds like a breeding ground for typhoid and cholora. Yuk.
If they didn't cut down the trees up on the mountains, they wouldn't get such bad landslides and floods, but I suppose they didn't realise that. Also, I think all this extra rain is due to climate change. The whole planet's weather seems to be messed up at the moment.
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