The number of deaths triggered by monsoon flooding in India, Bangladesh and Nepal since June crossed 2Â 000 on Thursday as the torrents receded, officials said.
India’s Home Ministry disaster-management division reported 1Â 521 deaths up to Wednesday afternoon alone.
”The latest death toll is 1Â 521,” said a Home Ministry spokesperson in New Delhi.
In India’s worst-hit state, Bihar, where 1,1-million hectares of farmland has been inundated, ”the situation is gradually improving”, he added.
In Bangladesh, the toll rose to 346 after at least 18 more deaths were reported, said Shafiqul Islam, a spokesperson for the Food and Disaster Management Ministry.
Kathmandu has reported 95 dead since the monsoon started in June and 330Â 000 people were displaced.
In Bihar’s capital, Patna, officials said on Thursday that 28 more people had died, while neighbouring Uttar Pradesh reported four more deaths overnight.
The Indian Home Ministry’s figures do not include scores of people still missing from numerous boating accidents during the floods.
The ministry said 6Â 496 villages were under water in Bihar affecting a population of 13,8-million, although it has not rained for several days now.
In Uttar Pradesh 2Â 412 villages remain submerged. Over 230 relief camps have been set up and taken in 167Â 000 people.
Huge swathes of Uttar Pradesh and Assam states have been submerged as well as eastern Bihar.
Assam relief minister Bhumidhar Barman told Agence France-Presse that 870Â 000ha were flooded and 9Â 291 homes destroyed in the north-eastern state.
The United Nations and NGOs and charities have joined major government relief efforts involving military forces and aircraft. — AFP
