India rushes help to flooded state

Troops and helicopters came to the rescue in India's flood-ravaged state of Rajasthan on Friday.

More than 150 people have died and thousands are homeless in the Jodhpur and Barmer districts.


An Indian woman carries her child in a basket as she wades through floodwaters in the village of Kudla. AFP via Yahoo News.

Ten days of heavy monsson rains brought flash floods to many areas of the state, which had previously been suffering from drought.

Huge lakes up to 10 kilometers wide formed in Rajashtan's deserts where the non-porous tablerock could take months to absorb the water.

"It's already a nightmare as we see from the geological point of view," said a spokesman from the state-run Central Arid Zone Research Institute, based in the flood-hit district of Jodhpur.