Heavy monsoon rains continued to lash parts of northern and northwestern India Sunday, causing flash floods and landslides. The death toll topped 1,000, with 20 more deaths reported from the western state of Gujarat and eight from Punjab in the north in the past 24 hours. At least 20 workers engaged in the construction of a power project in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh were trapped in a tunnel as flash floods followed a cloudburst. The floods triggered landslides, inundated surrounding areas and washed away machinery worth thousands of dollars belonging to the Parvati Hydel Power Project in Manikaran, 250 kilometers from Himachal Pradesh capital Shimla, Doordarshan television network reported. The debris from the landslides blocked the exit of the tunnel in which the labourers were sleeping. A spokesman for the private firm, engaged to construct the tunnel, said there could be more than 20 workers trapped inside and attempts to rescue them were on. The fresh rains also raised the danger levels in dams across northern and western India. About 100 hundred villages were evacuated in the northern hill states of Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. Reports said at least 20 people had died in Gujarat in the past 24 hours as sharp and heavy showers continued. State Health Minister I. K. Jadeja said the army was engaged in rescue and relief operations in the worst-affected areas. The threat of several villages in Bharuch and Narmada districts being marooned following the rise in water level in Sardar Sarovar dam reduced Sunday. "A high alert had been declared yesterday (Saturday). But today there is no such alert and no threat of villages in low-lying areas been flooded," an official at the Narmada district flood control room said over telephone. --more 1455 Local Time 1155 GMT
