Bangladesh and Nepal have received aid from the UN World Food Program and UNICEF but the agencies have received no official requests from India. An editorial in the Hindustan Times argues that authorities in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Bihar states should have done much more before hundreds of people died and millions were displaced. The editorial states “Floods are nothing new in these areas. It is the intensity of the floods that differ from year to year. The state governments’ lack of preparedness is criminal.”
In an interview with APTN, the UN’s regional health boss describes the staggering humanitarian crisis facing flood refugees and relief workers.