Hundreds of thousands stranded in India floods

KOLKATA, July 10 (Reuters): - Hundreds of thousands of people remained stranded with little food and water for a seventh day in eastern India, while heavy rains continued to pour in the west sparking more flooding, officials said on Tuesday.

At least 187 people have died and 7 million have been affected by flooding caused by the annual June-September monsoon rains across eastern, western and southern parts of the country.

The rains, which have caused rivers and dams to overflow, swamping towns and villages, have killed around 770 people across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

In India, hundreds of flooded villages in West Bengal remained cut off, with some residents stranded in trees and on rooftops with only coconuts to eat.

"It was distressing to see so many people perched on rooftops and crying for help," said Ramesh Kumar Das, a defence official, who is helping the Indian Air Force distribute food to marooned villagers from helicopters.

Officials said 12 bodies, including a woman holding a child, had been found stuck in the mud on the banks of a river in the state's West Midnapore district.

"We think these people were swept away by the river current," Kalipada Mondol, a government official said.

Authorities in neighbouring Orissa dispatched dry food packets to thousands of people marooned in remote districts.

In Balasore district, families used boats to escape submerged villages.

In Gujarat, 11 people drowned in floods and two others were killed when a house collapsed as rains poured down for the second day after a brief lull.

Several dams in the state were overflowing and 20,000 people were being moved to higher ground as a precautionary measure, officials said.

"We have to release water because the dams are overflowing and an alert has been sounded in this regard," a senior government rescue official said.

Weather officials in Gujarat said heavy rains would continue for at least the next 48 hours.

Manmohan Singh visits Indian National Army Memorial at Red Fort NEW DELHI, July 10 (Agencies):Reacting to a news report regarding the poor upkeep of the INA Memorial, Prime Minister Dr.

Manmohan Singh today visited the memorial at Salimgarh inside the Red Fort complex.

Singh walked around the campus and visited the rooms in which INA detainees were kept, and the museum where photographs and uniforms are on display.

An INA uniform worn by Colonel Prem Kumar, riding boots and coat buttons of Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon, photographs of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and others were on display during the visit.

In one of the galleries, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) excavated material and photographs were on display.

Expressing concern over the poor upkeep of the museum and premises, Dr.

Singh hoped such places of historical importance would be brought alive in the interest of the general public.

Concerned departments are seized of the matter and appropriate action would be taken, Dr.

The Prime Minister's Office has been instructed to direct the concerned ministry to take necessary action.

The INA Memorial was originally a guard room constructed by the British Army in 1916.

Many prisoners were detained at the Red Fort during the historical INA trial.

Pest infestation destroys over 2000 acres of cotton crop in Punjab LUDHIANA, July 10 (Agencies):Pest infestation has led to major crop destruction in Punjab, causing immense loss to the farmers.

Infestation by Mealy bug, a white fuzzy insect that sucks plant juice, has led to major damage of cotton crop in Punjab's Muktsar District.

Farmers have tried various insecticides and pesticides but to no avail.

"We sowed cotton in eight bigha (nearly 13 acres) of our land.

We applied all the sprays and other techniques told to us by horticulture department, but still the Mealy bug has attacked our crops," said Gurpreet Singh, a farmer.

The farmers now want the State Government to do some damage control and compensate them for their losses.

"I had sown cotton in four acres of land.

We have applied all the pesticides, but to no avail.

Our 50 percent crop has been totally destroyed.

We want government to give us compensation," said Markaur Singh, another farmer.

Meanwhile, the agriculture department has conducted a survey of the damaged fields and suggested measures for prevention of further damage.

Baldev Singh Sadhu, Agriculture Officer at Muktsar, said: "At least 2,374 acres of cotton crop is damaged by the Mealy bug.

Out of this, 174 acre was almost wasted crop that farmers rooted out." Farmers have lost around seventy percent of the produce due to infestation.

They are now ploughing their fields to root out the infested crop and prepare the field for some other crop.