Estimated seven million affected by Indian floods

Nearly seven million people in more than 10,000 villages have been badly hit by the floodwaters, which have so far claimed 45…

Nearly seven million people in more than 10,000 villages have been badly hit by the floodwaters, which have so far claimed 45 lives and left more than 600,000 marooned across the state of Orissa, in eastern India.

Officials said water levels in most rivers were now falling, but that large amounts of stagnant water had built up. Hundreds of villages were still surrounded by muddy waters.

Special Relief Commissioner Rishikesh Panda said 20,000 people had been evacuated from flood-hit areas since Friday.

There are 600,000 people who have been cut off by the floods, he said. Three people had died from snakebites on Saturday, he added.

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More than 100,000 people were evacuated from their homes yesterday as torrents of water released from a dam poured into already flooded coastal plains.

Triggered by unusually heavy monsoon season rains in Orissa and neighbouring upstream states, the floods cut off several hundred villages and washed away thousands of houses.

There were 820 mm (32 inches) of rain between June 1 and July 18, almost double the normal level for the period.

Officials said 22 out of the state's 30 districts had been affected.