ASIA/INDIA - Flood emergency in Kashmir

New Delhi (Agenzia Fides) - Heavy rainfall is ravaging Pakistan and Kashmir, leading to severe flooding and landslides. The death toll continues to increase and many villages have become completely submerged in water and thousands have been left stranded and homeless. Several bodies have been found under a landslide that engulfed a village in the district of Budgam, the most affected by the bad weather. It is feared that there may be other people trapped in the mud and debris that engulfed dozens of homes. Meanwhile evacuation operations managed by teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) sent from New Delhi continue. It has not rained in the area for over 24 hours, but the level of the river Jhelum has exceeded the limits and some parts could overflow. The authorities have declared a state of emergency and asked those who live near the river to leave their homes and move to safer places. The warning comes after the floods in the month of September, which flooded 80% of the region, killing more than 250 people, hundreds of thousands were evacuated and thousands were left homeless in what has been described as the worst flooding recorded in the region in the last 50 years. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 01/04/2015)