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Mighty Brahmaputra river submerged 2m. people

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	Children sit atop their flooded house at Muzaffarpur, in the eastern indian state of Bihar, Sunday August 6, 2000. Six districts of Bihar have been flooded, affecting thousands of families. (AP Photo/Vikram Kumar)

August 7, 2000 

GAUHATI (AP) - The army and the air force battled hunger and disease as the swirling flood waters of the mighty Brahmaputra river submerged the homes of more than two million people, drowning at least 40 of them in India's remote northeast, a government official said Sunday.

Another 35 people died of encephalitis, dysentery and malaria in eastern and northern parts of Assam state in the past two days as hunger stalked the flood-hit villages, a government health department official said on condition of anonymity.

"Four more persons, including two women, were drowned Saturday taking the toll in floods and mudslides over the past month in Assam to 40," the state government's flood control department said in a statement.

A father and his four children cross flooded fields at Sitamarhi, in the eastern indian state of Bihar, Sunday August 6, 2000. Thousands of families have been affected by the flood that has submerged large areas in six districts of Bihar. (AP Photo/Vikram Kumar)

The army and air force helicopters dropped food, medicines and tents to hundreds of people stranded on the roof tops since Thursday. Many were clinging to trees and telephone poles, said S. Madhok, an army commander, in Rangiya, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Gauhati, the state capital.

At least 3,500 villages in 16 Assam state districts were submerged after flood waters burst the banks of the Brahmaputra River and its tributaries at several places. At least two million people have been rendered homeless by the flooding, the government official said.

Thousands of villagers have taken shelter in makeshift government camps on the national highways, in schools and government offices.

"With road links disrupted, people are forced to travel in boats and rafts from one place to another. The situation is indeed very grim", Dilip Saikia, a governing party lawmaker, told The Associated Press on the phone from Dhemaji, a town 600 kilometers (370 miles) From Gauhati, the Assamese capital.