Fresh monsoon flooding brought more death and distress across South Asia on Tuesday, while many of the hundreds of thousands of flood victims in relief camps complained of poor facilities. Seven people drowned when overnight rains caused more flooding in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam, raising the death toll to 25 since the Brahamaputra river burst its banks and submerged villages last week.
Thousands of angry villagers in Assam took to the streets on Tuesday to protest against the government's failure to prevent the disaster. They accused authorities of not preventing erosion along the banks of the Brahamaputra, one of Asia's largest rivers.
Officials were clearly worried. "The flood situation could turn worse if it starts raining again," a disaster management official said. At least 1,000 people have drowned or died in house collapses or from snake bites across South Asia this monsoon season.
Authorities in the flood-hit Indian state of Bihar pulled out six of the 11 military helicopters from relief operations, saying evacuations were nearly over. In neighbouring Bangladesh, heavy flooding continued in northern districts and rural areas, leaving thousands of people without food, drinking water and cooking fuel.
The two-week old flood has killed 12 people in five northern districts in Bangladesh and affected nearly four million people, of whom nearly 200,000 have been forced from their homes.