Flying across this nation, it is virtually impossible to discern the mighty rivers that normally ribbon the landscape. There are just vast seas of muddy brown water _ and millions of stranded people. Floods have inundated three-quarters of Bangladesh and cut transportation links from its major port to the capital and other interior cities, officials say, though adding today that flood waters on three major rivers were receding. In Dhaka, flood waters were at their highest levels in 54 years and covered three-fourths of the capital. Dhaka newspapers reported 60 more flood deaths today, bringing the toll to at least 1,007 since June, when rivers began overflowing their banks in annual monsoon flooding in this impoverished nation of 110 million people. The government count of 333 dead is widely considered low. Millions of the marooned are eating raw food and drinking muddy, probably contaminated water, and 83,000 people nationwide have contracted diarrheal diseases, said Health Minister Abdul Munim. He said 65 people have died of the diseases so far. ``It is a calamity,'' Information Minister Mahbubur Rahman told reporters Sunday night. ``It is a havoc-creating, menacing flood.'' Flying in an airplane across Bangladesh Sunday from the Indian border to Dhaka, even the civilian pilot couldn't differentiate between the rivers and the flood waters. ``I've never seen anything like it before,'' said Ghias Ahmad, who has been flying over his country for 19 years. The waters swallowed up entire villages. Occasionally, tin roofs glinted in the sunlight, the houses beneath them completely submerged. On a few high spots of ground or short stretches of paved road still above water, people milled idly, small boats beached beside them. The Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers and their dozens of tributaries flow from India and through Bangladesh to the Bay of Bengal. The rivers flood almost every year after the monsoon rains in Bangladesh and India. Last year, the flooding in Bangladesh killed about 1,500 people. This season, some refugees have found shelter in relief centers or relatives' homes, said government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. But they estimated that at least 20 million people were either stranded in their homes or marooned on small outcroppings of high ground with few supplies. Wells and pumps are flooded, officials said, and flood water, which is probably impure, is the only source of drinking water. The central government has appealed for foreign aid, including boats, helicopters and 3 million tons of grain. Officials today reported water levels falling on the Brahmaputra, Ganges and Meghna rivers. But relief officials cannot reach many parts of the country because transportation has widely broken down. ``Shortages of medicine, cooked food and drinking water is causing untold miseries to millions of marooned people,'' a relief ministry official said on condition of anonymity. The information minister said flood waters destroyed crops and could prevent planting of the winter rice crop. He said this might lead to a shortfall of 2 million tons of rice. The minister said Bangladesh needs 18 million tons of rice a year to feed its people. He said 16.5 million tons are grown at home and 1.5 million imported. In Dhaka, a city of 6 million people, gasoline has become scarce for the few motor vehicles still navigating the streets. Many gas stations are closed. Boats have replaced cars and bicycle-powered rickshaws in many parts of the city. River boats capable of carrying 100 to 200 people sail between partly submerged houses in low-lying neighborhoods flooded by the Buriganga, Turag and Sitalakhya rivers that surround Dhaka on three sides. Many of the capital's streets are knee-deep and waist-deep in murky black water that carries a strong stench of sewage, and adults and children alike wade through it. Over the last week, the price of rice nearly doubled, from 15 cents a pound to 28 cents, as those who could afford it started hoarding.
