BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Heavy monsoon rains bursting the banks of rivers have caused the deaths of almost 1,800 people from drowning, house collapses, snakebite and waterborne diseases and Wednesday residents in eastern India are complaining about the smell of corpses floating in the flood waters.

    Millions of people are living in miserable conditions — many of them homeless or stranded on crowded embankments. Some parts of eastern India and Bangladesh have remained flooded for weeks, causing a surge in waterborne diseases.

    In India's eastern region, at least 300,000 people were suffering from diarrhea and other waterborne illnesses, complaining authorities were not doing enough to assist them. Residents and officials in the Indian state of Bihar said dozens of bodies could be seen floating in flood waters in the worst-hit districts.

    "The unbearable stench of rotting corpses floating in the water has made us sick," Anupiya Devi, a resident of Samastipur district, told reporters.

    The widespread flooding has left nearly 2.5 million acres of cultivable land submerged in Bihar, driving up vegetable prices.

    In neighboring West Bengal state authorities asked the Indian army to help relief and rescue operations with over 1.1 million people affected by fresh flooding over the past week across four districts.

    In West Midnapore district, people shouting "we want food" protested against the pace of the relief effort.

    Further south, in the mineral-rich state of Orissa, which shares a border with West Bengal, flood waters have affected 1.2 million people, and destroyed thousands of homes, officials said.

    (Agencies)