Hundreds of thousands of people have been left hungry and homeless in South Asia's worst flooding in decades, and have complained that help has yet to reach them.
Police used batons to disperse villagers fighting for food and relief material late yesterday in Begusarai and Nalanda districts of impoverished Bihar.
Hungry flood victims protested today against the police action, forcing authorities to transfer some relief officials.
Villagers from the area said there was no electricity as flood waters swamped a power station.
At least 61 new deaths by drowning have been reported from Bihar since Thursday evening, raising the death toll in the flood to nearly 700 in the past few weeks.
In neighbouring Bangladesh, drowning and disease killed another 27 people overnight, taking the death toll up to 253.
As floodwaters receded, the number of people suffering with flood-related diseases has increased, as outbreaks were reported from all the 40 flood-affected districts of the country.
While in Pakistan, at least 13 people, including six children, died in the aftermath of storms that pounded Karachi for two days.
