Oxfam launches appeal for flooded south Asia

LONDON (AFP) - International aid charity Oxfam launched a one-million-pound (two-million-dollar) appeal Wednesday to help nearly 200,000 flood victims in India, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Nearly 1,900 people have died from severe floods across South Asia, and millions of people still face hunger even though water levels in the region's swollen rivers have started to recede.

"Across the region people are struggling to cope with what is for many the worst flooding in living memory," said Ashvin Dayal, head of Oxfam in South Asia.
"Millions of the very poorest have lost their homes, their possessions and their livelihoods."

The aid agency said it had provided essential water equipment and temporary shelters for people who had lost their homes to flooding.
It also told how Oxfam and its partners had rescued stranded villagers in Bihar, northern India last week, using 20 small boats they had ready as part of their disaster contingency plan for the flood-prone area.

India's national disaster management agency said 1,294 people had died of monsoon-related causes since June 1. But figures given by state officials and numerous boat accidents in Bihar brought the toll close to 1,500.
In Bihar state, 12 million people have seen their homes and farmland partially or totally submerged after the worst flooding in 30 years.

An overcrowded boat -- one of scores ferrying the marooned to safety -- capsized late Monday in the impoverished state, claiming the lives of at least 65 people, police told AFP.
In Bangladesh, where the death toll stands at 300, the military-backed government has appealed to political parties, wealthy citizens and foreign countries to help rush food supplies to nine million flood victims.

In Nepal, at least 95 people have died in landslides and floods since the beginning of June, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.