Aid workers were helping thousands of villagers return to their homes as flood waters receded Wednesday in most parts of eastern India and Bangladesh following devastating monsoon rains that have killed more than 2,060 people across South Asia. The aid group workers on Wednesday distributed relief kits containing plastic sheeting, buckets, utensils and water purification tablets to thousands of people returning to their flood-swamped homes in the worst hit eastern Indian state of Bihar. Rain swollen rivers in eastern India remained above the danger mark Wednesday, but flood waters were receding in most places, said Upendra Sharma, a state government official. In neighboring Bangladesh, the monsoon floods that swamped two-thirds of the delta nation affecting more than 30 million people continued to ease Wednesday, the Flood Forecast and Warning Center said. Since flooding began in June, at least 1,215 people have died in India, 716 in Bangladesh, 124 in Nepal and five in Pakistan, according to figures supplied by authorities in each country and compiled by The Associated Press. Victims have mostly died from drowning, mudslides and waterborne diseases.
