24 July 2004	Saturday	06 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

GUWAHATI, July 23: Authorities in India warned traders on Friday against hoarding as sweeping river waters disrupted food supplies in parts of the country.

Rainy season disasters, including floods, landslides and boats capsizing have killed more than 1,000 people across Asia, including nearly 400 in southern China, and have left millions homeless.

The floods are the worst in 15 years in Bangladesh. Some 25 million people were homeless or stranded in their homes as annual monsoon rains caused rivers to flow into large swathes of low-lying land in the densely-populated country.

In the northeastern Indian state of Assam, police said they would cancel business licences or impose fines on traders who stocked up on food items needed by millions of people cut off by raging rivers since the start of July.

"We are sending out a strict warning to all traders not to hoard food items and take advantage of the flood situation," Hiren Nath, a senior police officer in Guwahati, the state's main city, said.

Hundreds of kilometres of roads and rail track have been submerged, slashing the supply of commodities and pushing up prices. There have been widespread reports of hoarding by traders and shopkeepers in the state.

Across the region, thousands of people jostle every day to grab food packets handed out by officials in boats and dropped by helicopters. "Prices of food items have gone up at least three times and housewives like me are finding it just impossible to manage our monthly budget," said Zuri Mech.

BREAD-BASKET DROUGHT: Although large areas of eastern India have been swept up in the flooding, there have been scant monsoon rains in the country's food basket states of the northwest, leading to a drought-like situation in some parts.

Global aid agency CARE International said the situation was "catastrophic" in the eastern region and would get worse. "We fear the rains will grow heavier in the coming days, making a bad situation worse - they show no signs of letting up," CARE deputy regional director for Asia Sherine Jayawickrama said in a statement.

VIOLENCE: In low-lying Bangladesh, at least 35 people, including government officials, were injured in violence on Thursday over distribution of relief materials near Sirajganj district, 150kms from Dhaka.

More than half the country has been hit by flooding. In the last 24 hours, 12 more people died from drowning, snakebite, electrocution by wires from fallen poles, and diarrhoea, pushing the nation-wide toll to 203. -Reuters