South Asia Floods Displace Millions, Spark Fears of Widespread Disease

NEW DELHI, Aug. 4 -- Every year when the monsoon rains pound South Asia, many of the poor children in Anouradha Bakshi's educational program become too sick from waterborne diseases such as diarrhea, typhoid and cholera to attend classes.

She fears this year will be far worse, with nearly 20 million people already displaced by severe flooding across northern India, Bangladesh and Nepal.

"What we'll see now is a lot of illness, especially in the many slum children who don't have a change of sheets or clothes, let alone access to clean drinking and bathing water," said Bakshi, whose nonprofit group Project Why helps families who live in shanties.

The monsoons, which batter South Asia from June to September, have killed an estimated 1,000 people, destroyed crops and cattle, and submerged tens of thousands of homes, hospitals and businesses. The number of people displaced by the heavy rains and violent winds is the highest in nearly a decade, officials say.

Regional authorities and health experts fear a looming health crisis as waterborne diseases take hold when the water recedes. Stagnant water leads to bacterial diseases that can cause acute respiratory infections, dysentery, rashes, fevers and a host of other illnesses, health workers said.
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