Rains wreak havoc in S Asia

NEW DELHI: Survivors scrambled for higher ground as torrential monsoon rains swept away homes and triggered landslides across South Asia Tuesday, with millions of people affected and at least 180 dead, officials said.

The monsoon is crucial for irrigation and groundwater supplies in the impoverished region -- home to a fifth of the world’s population -- and brings relief after the unforgiving summer. But the downpours -- which stretch from June to September -- can turn deadly, and have wreaked havoc again this year across India, Nepal and Bangladesh with people, dwellings and boats in remote low-lying areas washed away.

"Entire communities have been cut off by rising waters, increasing the risk of people going hungry and getting sick," Xavier Castellanos, of the International Federation of Red Cross, said of the growing crisis.

In Mumbai, a building collapsed in a cramped neighbourhood, killing four people and trapping 12 following heavy rains in the city. Almost a third of Bangladesh -- a delta country criss-crossed by hundreds of rivers -- was underwater, Arifuzzaman Bhuyan of the state-run Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said.