Waters start to recede in Assam

DISPUR, India, July 4 (UPI) -- The Brahmaputra River in India's Assam province has begun receding after floods that have killed almost 100 people, officials said Wednesday.

The flooding, the worst in the remote area since 2004, has drowned about 2,000 villages and forced 2 million people out of their homes, CNN-IBN reported. The government announced Tuesday that a few people had been able to return to their villages, but 370,000 remained in relief camps, while others stayed with family members or lived rough under canvas or plastic shelters.

CNN put the death toll in the province at 95 with officials saying 14 more were missing.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who flew over the flood-stricken province, during a visit with Sonia Gandhi, leader of the Congress Party, said the government has already allocated $90 million for flood relief.

The monsoon rains hit India every summer. This year, 236 deaths across the country have been attributed to the storms.

Sabir Ali told CNN he and his family had to fleeing the floods in their village, taking only what they were able to carry themselves.

"I am stuck. How will I survive? I've been forced to move to railways tracks with my children," he said.

Assam, connected to the rest of India by a narrow corridor, is the country's most remote region. The province, long famous for its tea, is a prime agricultural area and thousands of acres of farmland are under water.