Floods ebb in northeast India but disease threat looms

The water levels of the main river Brahmaputra and its major tributaries receded overnight, a Central Water Commission bulletin said. However, the region still faces major challenges.

"The flood situation has improved considerably although the worst is yet to come," Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told AFP. "We are now worried of health related problems in the aftermath of the floods."

More than 12 million inhabitants in the northeast have been displaced and up to 130 people killed in floods and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains since mid-June.

"Millions of people were staying at makeshift relief camps and in government buildings and schools with their villages still under water," the chief minister added.

Displaced villagers would be able to return to their homes within the next couple of days when the floodwaters recede completely, Gogoi said.

But thousands of people will have no home to return once the flood situation improves.

"The floods swept away our home and now where do we go from here?" asked Hrishikesh Nath, a village elder in western Assam's Nalbari district.

Health officials say there has been an outbreak of waterborne diseases in several parts of Assam with people forced to drink water from sources that are filled with mud and slush.

"The flood-hit areas have become polluted and so we are worried with cases of diarrhoea, fever, jaundice and other stomach ailments reported from relief camps," Assam health minister Bhumidhar Barman said.

"We are taking all precautions and sending medical teams to vulnerable areas for treating the people."

Meanwhile, food riots and angry protests continued in many parts of eastern Bihar state where the flood situation was still worse.

Flood victims attacked a village head and another official at Patepur in Vaishali district on Friday while districts of Madhubani, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Darbhanga and Khagaria have appealed to the state headquarters for supplies to fight epidemics.