Floods kill 100, displace millions in SAsia

GUWAHATI (AFP) - Millions of people have fled their homes in India, Bangladesh and Nepal on Monday as the death toll in the past week from floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains topped 100, officials said.

More than 22 people have died in Nepal, 13 others lost their lives in Bangladesh and the toll has risen to about 70 in north and northeastern India, where meteorologists have warned of more rain in the next 24 hours.

"The situation has turned devastating overnight, drowning five more people in separate incidents and displacing another three million," said Bhumidhar Barman, relief and rehabilitation minister in northeastern Assam state.

The water levels in all major rivers and their tributaries in the state were well above the danger mark, authorities said in a bulletin.

Indian air force helicopters were on stand-by to deliver food and other essentials to some four million displaced people as the Brahmaputra River -- one of the longest in Asia at 2,900 kilometres (1,800 miles) -- swelled.

The Brahmaputra is usually in full flood in the summer from monsoon rains and melting glaciers as it crosses Tibet, India and Bangladesh before emptying into the Bay of Bengal.

Soldiers used rubber boats and rafts to evacuate trapped residents, as communication and transport links across the area were badly disrupted.

A team of doctors and paramedics was sent to the flood-hit areas by boat and raft to treat people suffering from water-borne diseases.

"We have also sent veterinarians along with adequate cattle and poultry feed in several areas," Barman said.

The worst-hit part of Assam was eastern Dhemaji district, where an estimated 250,000 people had taken refuge in makeshift shelters on raised embankments, in government schools and offices.

In the past week, 20 people have died in Assam and neighbouring Meghalaya states, while another 50 people have been killed in northern Bihar and Uttar Pradesh states, according to official figures.

In Bangladesh, where about 675,000 villagers have fled their homes, the flood watch centre said the situation could worsen, with the country's central regions at risk of major flooding in the next two days.

"The flood situation in northern Bangladesh has been aggravated overnight. Water levels of both the Ganges and the Brahmaputra have increased, inundating vast new areas," disaster management secretary Dhiraj Malakar said.

Malakar said thousands of military, government and volunteer groups had been mobilised to evacuate people and distribute food, relief and medical aid to those affected by the disaster.

The state-owned BSS news agency said at least three more people had died from snakebites and drowning at the weekend, taking the reported death toll from the floods to 13.

Bangladesh is criss-crossed by a network of 230 rivers and suffers annual floods with at least a fifth of the country submerged each year.

In 2004, flooding killed more than 700 people and 38 percent of the country was under water, forcing millions to flee their homes. In Assam, at least 200 people were killed and more than 12 million displaced the same year.

In Nepal, about 70 people have been killed in floods since the monsoon season began last month, officials said.