Monsoon floods in India kill 81, displace 2 million

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The worst monsoon floods in a decade to hit a remote northeastern Indian state have killed more than 80 people and forced around 2 million to leave their homes, officials said on Monday.

Nearly half a million people are living in relief camps that have been set up across Assam state, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told journalists in Gauhati, Assam's capital. The rest of the 2 million displaced have moved in with relatives or are living in the open, sheltering under tarpaulin sheets.

Assam officials said 81 people have been killed over the past four days. Most of them were swept away when the mighty Brahmaputra River overflowed its banks and flooded villages. Sixteen people were buried in landslides triggered by the rains.

At least 11 people were missing in six districts, the state disaster management agency said in its bulletin.

Air force helicopters were dropping food packets and drinking water to marooned people, Singh said after surveying the flood-hit districts.

Army soldiers used boats to rescue villagers from rooftops of flooded homes.

Teams of doctors have opened health clinics in the 770 relief camps that had been set up across Assam, one of India's main tea-growing states. The hilly tea growing areas have not been affected, but lower rice fields have been washed away.

Much of the Kaziranga National Park, known for its one-horned rhinos, was under water, forcing the animals to move to higher ground. Poachers have already killed one rhino that had strayed from the park and took away its horn, foresters said.

Singh announced 100,000 rupees ($1,800) compensation to each of the families whose members died in the floods.

Questions:

1. At least how many people have been killed?

2. How many people are living in relief camps?

3. How much is the compensation offered to the families of those who died?

Answers:

1. 81.

2. Nearly half a million.

3. 100,000 rupees ($1,800).

About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.