Swirling floodwaters which have left 500 dead and millions homeless continue to affect vast tracts of Bangladesh, India and Nepal despite beginning to recede, officials said on Sunday.
In the northeastern state of Assam, one of the worst hit areas, 41 people have drowned due to floods since July.
A local government statement Sunday said 5,34-million people had been left homeless with an estimated 25,000 houses, most of them made of mud and thatch, washed away by the Brahmaputra river since the beginning of last month.
The government has calculated preliminary losses of 30-billion rupees ($612-million) from the devastation.
A Central Water Commission bulletin on Sunday said the Brahmaputra was flowing above danger levels in at least six places but generally the floods were receding across the state.
”The flood situation is improving by the day with thousands of people returning back to their homes although more than 40% of the people affected are still sheltered in makeshift relief camps,” said Assams Flood Control Minister Nurzamal Sarkar.
But with little or no access to clean drinking water and medicines, water-borne diseases like dysentery and gastroenteritis are claiming lives in Assam.
At least 119 people have died of diarrhoea or Japanese-B encephalitis during the past month, with 100 deaths due to encephalitis alone.
Nine people died overnight of encephalitis in eastern Assams Dibrugarh and Sivasagar districts, health officials said.
”We are really worried with encephalitis and diarrhoea assuming serious proportions across the state. We have fanned out teams of medical experts with adequate stocks of antidotes to prevent further spreading of the diseases,” Assams Health Minister Bhumidhar Barman said.
”Almost all the places are filled with mud and filth thereby contaminating water sources and hence the problem in controlling the diseases.”
In the eastern state of Bihar, officials say 113 people have died in flooding.
Officials said the water levels of the Baghmati and Gandak rivers, which have been causing most of the devastation, showed signs of lowering in the next 24 hours, but more rain was also forecast.
”The Baghmati River embankment… was breached submerging at least a dozen villages,” a statement from the Water Resource Department release said on Sunday.
In Nepal, Monsoon floods and landslides have killed 295 people since July 13, according to the home ministry.
Some 60 people are missing, 9 314 houses have been damaged and nearly 13 000 families made homeless, official said.
In Bangladesh no official death toll was available, but unofficial reports said 65 people had been killed in floods or flood-related accidents, including snake bites.
Last month experts said they did not anticipate any major flooding in Bangladesh this year.
The country, criss-crossed by some 230 rivers, is plagued by annual flooding. In 1998, the worst floods in a century devoured most of the country, causing millions of dollars worth of damage.
Low-lying areas, including parts of the capital Dhaka were being inundated as water receded from upstream areas.
Cases of diarrhoea have been reported in some northern districts, including Rangpur, while the military is helping to repair breached dams. – Sapa-AFP