Northern India is suffering from its worst floods for ten years. The monsoon rains have even breached flood barriers in the capital of New Delhi.

SYNOPSIS: More then a thousand square miles (about 1,800 square km) in the around the capital have been affected. Residents in the densely populated western part of the city have been forced to leave their homes. Altogether about 150,000 people in Delhi have had to be evacuated because of t he monsoon rains and now officials are worried that an epidemic could break out in one of the areas where the sanitary system has failed.

Already more than 150 people have died in the floods and water levels have been continuing to rise.

In New Delhi alone twenty six relief camps for flood victims were set up until it was safe for them to return home. Other camps were set up for residents of five villages elsewhere in Delhi state. There were also 75 villages in the north and west of the state which had been completely cut off by the floods. Air force helicopters were flying in emergency supplies.

Some villages could still be reached by army lorries that ploughed their way through waist-deep water with supplies of kerosene and bread. But there were allegations that many of the cans of fuel weren't full -- and one group of villagers claimed that although 20,000 loaves of bread had been sent out not a single one had reached them.