Disease claims 30 lives in Assam

Thousands more had fallen ill in the outbreak but waters began receding across the region, officials said.

"There were at least 30 deaths in the past three to four days due to waterborne diseases, mainly diarrhoea and jaundice, breaking out in several flood-hit areas," an Assam health department official said.

"Up to 10,000 people are reported to be suffering from various ailments in relief camps," he said.

Hundreds of people were staying in makeshift shelters on highways and on raised platforms in eastern Assam's Nagaon district, about 130km from the state's main city of Guwahati.

"In the past three days six people died in this relief camp due to dysentery. Army doctors have set up medical camps here," said Tarini Baishya, a village elder in Nagaon district.

The region has been hit by floods, landslides and disease since flooding began mid-June with the countrywide toll touching at least 697. Assam alone accounts for at least 210 of the total casualties.

Neighbouring Bihar state said 452 people had been killed by floods there, with more than 21 million people displaced.

Some 12 million people have been uprooted in the devastating floods in the northeast, officials say.

"The entire health department is on maximum alert. This is a challenge for us with people now suffering from diseases. We've already fanned out medical teams across the state," Assam health minister Bhumidhar Barman told AFP.

"The situation is really bad in some districts in western and northern Assam. Most have been taken ill after drinking muddy water," he said.

Health workers were distributing water purifying tablets and rushing medical teams in boats as well setting up mobile clinics.

The government statement said all 27 districts in Assam were hit by floods.