© Stringer/ReutersPeople stand on a damaged bridge on an overflowing canal in Haridwar, India. Thousands of homes have been washed away.
Floods triggered by heavy rain in northern India have killed at least 17 people, washed away thousands of homes and forced the evacuation of some 2 million people in a 24-hour period.
A swath of Uttar Pradesh state has been covered by floodwaters spilling over the banks of several rivers that crisscross the region, the state spokesman Diwakar Tripathi said. Soldiers and paramilitary troops were working to evacuate people from marooned villages and move them to relief camps.
"At least 17 people have died overnight. More than a thousand houses have been washed away. Large areas are under water," Tripathi said.
Northern India has experienced unprecedented rain since August, according to the India Meteorological Department. Most rivers are flowing above the danger mark, including the Yamuna and Ganges that run through Uttar Pradesh.
Temporary shelters and medical facilities are being set up at relief camps, while army helicopters are dropping food and water packets for people stranded in remote villages, said relief organisers.
One of the hardest-hit areas is the industrial town of Moradabad, where some 200,000 people had to be evacuated from the rising water, said Suresh Tomar, a district official.
There was also extensive damage to farmland in the state, with crops worth around 35 billion rupees (£477m) destroyed, Tripathi said.
More rain is forecast and a flood alert has been issued for 18 districts in Uttar Pradesh.
In neighbouring Pakistan, monsoon floods have killed more than 1,700 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 1.9 million homes in the past six weeks.
Source: The Associated Press
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