Authorities in eastern India are rushing medical help to thousands of
people displaced by flood waters, in order to keep disease from
spreading.
India's health secretary Naresh Dayal on Friday said 300
tons of medicine, millions of chlorine tablets, vaccines and teams of
doctors were being sent to relief camps in the state of Bihar.
Officials say hundreds of cases of diarrhea and other water-borne
diseases are already being reported in government-run shelters, due to
water contamination.
Flood waters have receded in some areas, prompting some villagers to
return to their homes today, despite government warnings that the
swollen Kosi River could overrun its banks again.
Authorities say many of the areas will likely remain flooded until the monsoon rains taper off in November.
The flooding began two weeks ago when the Kosi River burst its banks in
neighboring Nepal, causing river water to spill into India.
Tens of thousands of people have also been displaced in northeastern
India's Assam state, Nepal and Bangladesh. Officials say the floods
have killed at least 80 people -- a figure they expect to rise.
South Asia's monsoon season runs from June to September.