June 30, 2003	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 29,1424

GUWAHATI, June 29: At least 60 people have died of malaria and encephalitis in India’s flood-hit state of Assam over the past month as fresh rains brought the number of displaced persons to 70,000, officials said on Sunday.

Fifty-four have died of malaria and six from Japanese encephalitis in areas lashed by monsoon rains and floods since early June, P.C. Bhattacharyya, Assam Malaria Programme Officer, told AFP.

“About 17,000 of the total 600,000 people whose blood samples were screened have tested positive for malaria,” he said.

A second wave of floods started Friday and has displaced up to 70,000 villagers in the eastern districts of Dhemaji and Jorhat, as well as parts of the western Goalpara and Dhubri districts, local officials said.

“The worst is yet to come and we are gearing up to meet the challenge,” Assam Flood Control Minister Nurzamal Sarkar told AFP.

A Central Water Commission bulletin Sunday said Assam’s main Brahmaputra river was rising along its course after four days of heavy rains.

BANGLADESH:: Thousands more Bangladeshis were forced to head for higher ground on Sunday as water levels rose in major rivers due to heavy rains, officials said.

They said people living in low-lying areas in parts of Chittagong along with those in some northeastern and northern districts were affected by flash floods. Run-off from the hills forced residents to find shelter in the southeastern hill tracts region, where a landslide killed some 30 people last week, local officials said.

Another 40 people died late last week in landslides and floods, according to officials and residents. Rain has been hammering the capital Dhaka since Thursday, soaking streets and triggering snail-pace traffic.

SEVEN DIE: : Seven people died and two others were injured after a building collapsed in the western Indian city of Bombay following torrential monsoon rains, it was reported Sunday.

The six-storey building was located in the city’s Grant Road, a crowded commercial area, the United News of India news agency reported.—AFP/dpa