PRE-MONSOON DELUGES have flooded parts of India and Bangladesh, killing at least 24 people in recent weeks and sending 90,000 people into shelters, authorities said.

Both heavily populated nations in South Asia are prone to frequent floods and are considered major victims of climate change.

The deaths have been reported since 6 April in India’s north-eastern region, with the Assam state continuing to experience floods.

Those who have left their homes due to the floods are staying in 269 camps set up by authorities.

The Indian army and air force have had to evacuate thousands of people in the last two weeks.

A man and a child travel on a wooden plank through flood waters in Bagha area in Sylhet. STR STR

Helicopters have been dropping essential items to people stuck in vulnerable spots in the worst-hit Dima Hasao district.

The Indian Space Research Organisation is using satellites to assess the damage.

Flash flooding is also occurring in the Bangladeshi districts of Sylhet and Sunamganj, which border India’s north-east.

At least three rivers were flowing above the danger level today, said Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, executive engineer of the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre in Dhaka, the capital.

Bangladeshi media said hundreds of villages have been marooned and crops have been damaged badly.

People also lack drinking water because wells have been under floodwaters or water supply systems have been damaged.

No casualties have been reported in Bangladesh so far.

The Jamuna TV station said while flood waters were receding in some areas, many new areas were affected by new flooding today.

Authorities said hundreds of villages remain cut off from electricity and roads have been damaged extensively.