By Bappa Majumdar KOLKATA, India, Aug 13 (Reuters) - The death toll from flooding in eastern India rose by at least 63 on Monday as thousands more people were marooned due to fresh rains in parts of the monsoon-battered region, officials said. The new flooding occurred as governments in South Asia struggled to provide aid to millions already affected by monsoon rains last month, with authorities in Bangladesh cancelling leave for government doctors to combat the rising number of cases of waterborne diseases. Around 750 have died in South Asia in the past few weeks. Highlighting the desperation caused by weeks of bad weather and the anger at the authorities' response, an Indian villager died from injuries sustained after being beaten by police in the impoverished state of Bihar on Sunday. Another 25 were hurt in Bihar's Saharsa district as police used batons to disperse hungry villagers, furious about sluggish aid operations, an official said. "It was tense and getting out of hand, forcing us to use batons to chase them away," said Kunwar Singh, a senior police officer, by phone. Flood waters have been receding over the past few days in Bihar -- a densely populated state of 90 million -- but millions are yet to get any substantial relief from authorities. As water levels fell, villagers and authorities discovered more bodies, pushing the death toll up by 58 in the state since Sunday morning. A defence official said air drops had been stopped as the flood situation had improved, though voluntary agencies said the air operation -- using just four helicopters -- had been grossly insufficient from the start. FLOODING AGAIN, AND AGAIN In Kolkata, eastern India's biggest city and capital of West Bengal state, rain water entered homes and disrupted transport. Dozens of trains were cancelled due to flooding, and buses and cars stayed off the streets. Those who went to work had to wade through filthy water. "There is waterlogging everywhere and I woke up this morning and knew it was the same bad dream that has been haunting us this year," said Asish Bera, a resident on the city's southern fringe, referring to the week-long flooding in the city last month. In the neighbouring state of Orissa, thousands of people were cut off after swollen rivers, triggered by an overnight storm, broke through mud embankments and swamped villages. At least four people drowned in the state on Monday. "ALARMING TURN" In Bangladesh, one of the world's poorest countries, the death toll since flooding began in mid-July rose to 400 on Monday. The toll is being pushed up by deaths due to diarrhoea and other diseases, with nearly 45,000 people being treated in hospitals and clinics across the country since late July. Doctors at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research in Dhaka said they had received about 1,000 patients a day last week. "Diarrhoea has taken an alarming turn with the floodwaters receding," said A.S.M. Matiur Rahman, health adviser to the country's army-backed interim government. In Himalayan Nepal, at least six members of a family were killed in a landslide that buried a house in the country's west, taking the death toll in this year's monsoon rains to 105. (Additional reporting by Reuters reporters in Patna, Bhubaneswar, Serajul Islam Qaudir in Dhaka and Gopal Sharma in Kathmandu)
