News / India

India flood death toll reaches 325

Saturday, 05 December 2015 5:29 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 05 December 2015 6:51 PM ]

Indian relief workers gather supplies for flood victims at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai, Tamil Nadu State, India, December 5, 2015. (AFP Photo)

India has blamed industrialization for causing extreme weather conditions as the death toll from deadly floods in the southern state of Tamil Nadu reaches 325.

On Saturday, hundreds of extra soldiers and relief workers were deployed to the flooded city of Chennai to aid residents caught in India's heaviest rains in 100 years.

The devastating floods in India's south are the result of greenhouse gas emissions pumped by industrialized nations into the atmosphere, Indian Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar told Indian daily The Hindu on Friday.

"What is happening in Chennai is the result of what has happened for 150 years in the developed world," the Indian environment minister said.

The death toll is expected to go up as more water recedes.

Two bouts of heavy torrential rain from December 1 to 4 have led to the deaths.

Up to eight feet (2.5 meters) of flood water has covered residential areas, roads, railway tracks and the city’s airport with many residents trapped on rooftops or upper floors without power or communication services.

Indian volunteers distribute packets of milk from the back of a vehicle to flood affected residents in Chennai, Tamil Nadu State, December 5, 2015 (AFP Photo)

Officials said the runway at Chennai International Airport was partly opened while more than half of Chennai’s 859 city areas remain under water.

“We are asking for more help from the army, the national disaster relief team,” said Atulya Mishra, the relief commissioner of Tamil Nadu, adding, “It has been a monsoon unlike anything we have seen in history, we need all the help we can get.”

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