The rains inundated hundreds of villages, washing away homes and leaving residents stranded as rescue crews raced to remove survivors. Earlier this month the federal weather service had forecast that India was likely to receive an average amount of rain in August and September, pointing to overall good returns in Asia’s third-largest agriculture-based economy to boost growth and create jobs. work. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Agriculture contributes about 15% to India’s $2.7 trillion economy, while supporting more than half of the population of 1.3 billion. Heavy rains followed by landslides and floods in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh over the past three days have killed at least 36 people, a state government official told Reuters. In the neighboring mountainous state of Uttarakhand, an official government statement said four were dead and 13 were missing due to continuous rains. “We have deployed helicopters to rescue people stuck in remote areas due to rain-related incidents. The rescue operation is in full swing,” said Ranjit Kumar Sinha, an official in Uttarakhand’s disaster management department. In the eastern state of Odisha, at least six people have died due to continued torrential rains, a state official said. The floods have affected nearly 800,000 people and displaced thousands from their homes in Odisha, with the rains disrupting power and water supplies and damaging road infrastructure. The state has so far evacuated 120,000 people from the affected areas. Authorities in the Ramgarh district of eastern Jharkhand state said five people were swept away by the waters of the swollen Nalkari River on Saturday. Four bodies have been recovered so far, said Madhvi Mishra, district official in Ramgarh. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Munsif Vengattil writes. Edited by Rupam Jain and Christian Schmollinger Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
