Floods wash away schools, homes in Assam

Indian schoolboys make their way along a flooded street in Kolkata on Monday. The monsoon rain has flooded large areas in the north Indian state of Assam and flashed major connecting hill tracks of the north West Bengal districts. Photo: AFP

"I couldn't do anything to save my school from being washed away. Now where do we start our lessons once the summer vacation ends next month?" said 50-year-old Pegu wearily.

"I feel like crying thinking about the 50 students who study in my school."

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The bamboo-and-thatch school was among hundreds of huts in the village of Bahbor which were swept away by the swirling waters of the mighty Brahmaputra river.

Bahbor is 80 km north of Guwahati, capital of India's northeastern state of Assam, which has been bearing the brunt of monsoon flooding in India, with more than three million people displaced and 73 killed since it began on June 27.

"Can you see our school roof?" asked seven-year-old student Rabi Payeng.

The thatched roof of the school could be seen stuck in some water hyacinth branches as the gushing water threatening to push it further away.