DHAKA, Bangladesh — Deaths from monsoon rains across South Asia reached 1,238 yesterday as Bangladesh remained awash in the worst floods in six years, and waterborne diseases began taking their toll.
Diarrhea caused by drinking dirty water has killed 46 persons and afflicted about 80,000 this month, according to the government’s Health Directorate. Relief workers warned that the situation could worsen as rivers around Bangladesh’s inundated capital, Dhaka, continued to swell.
The annual monsoon flooding, fed by melting snow and torrential rains, has left millions across South Asia marooned or homeless. At least 731 persons have died in India, 102 in Nepal and five in Pakistan, according to reports from officials.
The Bangladesh government said yesterday that 400 persons had died since June. The floods have engulfed two-thirds of the country. Up to 1.3 million displaced people huddled in about 4,000 flood shelters. Villagers have pitched tents on highways or mud embankments with their families and cattle.
“The situation in Dhaka and central Bangladesh will not improve until next week,” the Flood Forecast and Warning Center said.
Last year, about 1,500 people died across South Asia during the monsoons, which lasted from mid-June to mid-October.
Deaths are caused by drowning, landslides, house collapses, lightning, diseases and poisonous snakes that slither through the water and bite people struggling to reach higher ground.
In India’s northeastern state of Assam, almost entirely covered by water, the government asked the Red Cross and other relief groups to provide anti-venom for snakebite victims as well as rehydration salts for people suffering from diarrhea.
“Snakes, swept by the floodwaters from rivers and marshes, seem to be lurking around in large numbers, keeping the marooned people on tenterhooks,” said Bumidhar Barman, the health minister of Assam, where another 45 deaths were reported yesterday.
Some 12 million people are affected in Assam, where floods have caused $1.08 billion in damage, said the state’s Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.
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