India floods: Monsoon rains kill two in Assam By Subir Bhaumik

Kolkata Published duration 11 June 2015

image copyright Science Photo Library image caption A schoolboy rows his boat past submerged huts. Authorities say 553 villages have been affected in the floods

Authorities in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam say two people have died and more than 200,000 have been affected by flooding.

The state government said that over 500 villages in 13 districts of the state had been affected after early monsoon rains swelled the Brahmaputra river.

Floods are an annual occurrence in the region during the summer monsoon.

Assam has sufficient food stocks and medicines to cope, its revenue and disaster management minister said.

image copyright AFP/Getty image caption Authorities say more than 200,000 people have been hit in the first wave of floods

image copyright EPA/STR image caption Floods are an annual occurrence in Assam during the monsoon season

image copyright EPA/STR image caption Officials say standing crops in more than 8,000 hectares of land have been destroyed