Some 1,200 people have been killed and millions more displaced over the last two weeks as a result of severe floods and landslides in India, Bangladesh and Nepal.
According to UN humanitarian agencies, governments and aid workers are working hard to deliver clean water, food and shelter to around 32 million people in India, 6.9 million in Bangladesh and 1.7 million in Nepal.
Over 2,000 medical teams have also been deployed to offer assistance to those injured as a result of the devastating weather, Independent.co.uk reported.
Torrential monsoon rains paralyze India's financial capital Mumbai for a 2nd day as the streets turned into rivers: https://t.co/R1qtkfmEnb pic.twitter.com/f9Cbsb2QOs
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 30, 2017
Humanitarian worker for the International Federation of Red Cross, Hanna Butler, said locals have been shaken by the floods, which is “on a different scale” from anything they’ve experienced.
“The older people have been comparing it to the last big floods of the late 1980s but younger people said they had never experienced anything like this before.”
Hanna Butler, Red Cross
Mumbai international airport was also forced to close its runways intermittently yesterday due to poor visibility caused by 12.7cm (5ins) of rain.
Hoezo wateroverlast in Deurne? #Texas #India #Bangladesh #climatechange pic.twitter.com/wL1bskxQrs
— Erwin van Duin 🇪🇺 (@erwinvanduin) August 30, 2017
Several departures were delayed by at least 35 minutes, while several inbound services were delayed by up to an hour or diverted to other destinations.
Australians visiting India and Nepal have been advised to anticipate transport and flight disruptions and to follow any instructions issued by local authorities.
Meanwhile, tour operators are reviewing the situation in Nepal and India to ensure the safety of current and future guests.
In a statement to KarryOn, Adventure World said all its travellers currently in the region have been accounted for and “are in constant contact with Agents working on arrangements to ensure travellers are not significantly impacted whilst in destination or for future travel arrangements”.
Intrepid Travel’s Destination Manager for Asia, Ryan Turner, said the tour operator isn’t currently operating tours in affected areas in India and Nepal and at this stage, all of Intrepid’s current and upcoming trips are scheduled to depart as normal.
“Our local operations team is closely monitoring the situation and can quickly amend plans if required,” he said.