& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Floods in South East Asia

Myanmar orders mass evacuation

Tens of thousands brace for worst as major river threatens to flood low-lying delta

AFP, Hinthada
Myanmar's president yesterday called for the evacuation of low-lying areas as the Irrawaddy river threatened to breach embankments, leaving villagers with just sand bags to hold back churning waters that have hit much of the country.
Floods from a heavy monsoon season have cut through swathes of South and Southeast Asia in recent weeks, claiming hundreds of lives and displacing millions.
Twelve of Myanmar's 14 regions have been struck, with officials saying 74 people have been killed and more than 330,000 affected -many forced into monasteries and other makeshift shelters after their homes were inundated.
In a picture muddied by damaged communications, relief agen-
cies said floods had receded in some northern and western areas allowing supplies of food and clean water to trickle in, although landslides were still a threat.
Parts of the centre and south, Myanmar's main major rice-growing area, are now bracing for floods as water drains through the vast I trawaddy delta.
In a radio broadcast repeated throughout yesterday, President Thein Sein said areas near the Irrawaddy were at risk as the river rises ” above danger level".
"As we cannot prevent natural disasters, I urge fellow citizens to move to safer places... it's the best way,” he said, adding Hinthada and Nyaung Don townships along the river were in immediate danger.
That message was already too late for some villages around Hinthada, where waters had reached the height
of doorways and residents now navigate their flooded streets by canoe.
"There is nowhere else to live... where can we go?” San San Maw told AFP as she climbed from her canoe into her house, which she now shares with seven people, despite it being partially-flooded.
In the main town, which is yet to be swamped by the dirty waters, the army helped residents reinforce embankments with sand bags as displaced people arrived seeking shelter in monasteries and schools.
But the swollen river lies menacingly close on the other side of the barriers, an AFP reporter said.
Upstream at Nyaung Don, sand bags were piled high along the river as villagers anxiously eyed the rising waters.
"We are not sleeping at night,
instead we watch the embankment and hope it does not break," said 23-year-oldTunTun.
International aid efforts have buttressed the response of the army and local communities, following a rare appeal by the government for outside help.
But thousands of people are still feared stranded in rugged and remote Chin State after days of rain caused flash floods and landslides that swept away homes, roads and bridges.
Further south, aid agencies have warned water sources have been contaminated in parts of Rakhine State, which was also hit by Cyclone Komen late last week.
The floods have heaped further misery on the state, which already has tens of thousands of people in displacement camps — mainly Muslim Rohingya - after waves of