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The death toll from the worst monsoon floods to hit South Asia in decades passed 2,000 on Thursday even as the torrents of muddy water recede from millions of acres of farmland.Despite several dry days and falling water levels, the number of dead since the monsoon started in early June continues to climb.Thousands of villages remain under water and millions of people have been displaced by the floodwaters, mainly in India and Bangladesh, which have also destroyed valuable crops.India's home ministry disaster management division reported more than 1,500 deaths up to Wednesday afternoon alone.In Bangladesh the toll has reached 346 after at least 18 more deaths were reported, said Shafiqul Islam, spokesman for the food and disaster management ministry.Kathmandu has lost 95 dead since the monsoon started, with 330,000 people displaced.
But the Indian figures do not include scores of people still missing from numerous boating accidents, including one in Samastipur district which police said killed 65 people on Monday night.In Patna, capital of India's worst-hit state Bihar, officials said Thursday that 28 more people had died, while neighbouring state Uttar Pradesh reported four more deaths overnight.A home ministry spokesman said that in Bihar, where 1.1 million hectares (2.7 million acres) of farmland has been inundated, "the situation is gradually improving."According to the ministr, nearly 6,500 villages remain submerged in Bihar, affecting a population of 13.8 million, while 2,400 are under water in Uttar Pradesh."Airdropping of food is continuing. Medical teams are being deployed by the government," it said, adding that thousands of boats were deployed to rescue stranded people.The monsoon floods are part of what the World Meteorological Organisation said Tuesday was a global pattern of record extreme weather conditions since the start of the year.As well as these floods, the UN weather agency's extreme weather list also includes a summer heatwave in Europe, heavy rain that ravaged part of southern China and the {first documented tropical cyclone in the Arabian Sea}.The devastation in India threatens an entire season's crops in some areas, raising fears of food shortages.Initial estimates say that regional losses from destroyed farms, houses and infrastructure are well above 100 million dollars for the past two weeks, and at least 320 million dollars for India alone since June 1.
Also raising the cost was the destruction of 30,000 homes while 44,000 more were partly damaged in Bihar.
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