Eastern India struggles to evacuate reluctant villagers as floods wreak havoc

A woman walks during heavy rains in Allahabad, India, July 29, 2016. REUTERS/Jitendra Prakash

BHUBANESWAR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Authorities in eastern India are struggling to evacuate more than 100,000 people stranded in villages after floods intensified, killing more than 300 and driving hundreds of thousands from their homes, officials said on Thursday.

The heavy monsoon rains have caused rivers including the Ganges and its tributaries to burst their banks forcing over 200,000 people into relief camps in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.