Floods kill 59 people in eastern India

Residents prepare to leave their flooded homes in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal

NEW DELHI, India (Reuters) -- At least 59 people have died and tens of thousands have been marooned in floods in the eastern state of West Bengal, the United News of India said Thursday.

State authorities have called out the army to evacuate people from the districts of Birbhum, Bardhaman, and Midnapore, where most of the deaths took place, the news agency said.

"Only the military can help us out," the news agency quoted West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu as saying. "We have no dearth of funds and materials but the main problem is to rescue the people."

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The areas were submerged after the release of about 228,300 cubic feet of water per second from the Mashanjor and Tilpara dams late Monday following torrential rain in Birbhum, 93 miles northwest of the state capital, Calcutta.

Indian Air Force helicopters were being deployed to drop food packets in the affected areas, the state's deputy chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya was quoted as saying.

Road traffic has been hit after floods severed the highway linking north and south Bengal, and telecommunications and power services have also been completely disrupted.

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