CALCUTTA June 14—Indian officials say that the cholera epidemic among the more than five million refugees from East Pakistan has been brought under “reasonable control.”

Yet despite the horror of the epidemic—well over 5,000 people have died—the continuing problems brought by the refugees are even more staggering.

Each problem grows worse as tens of thousands of refugees stream daily across the border —other diseases and malnutrition lack of shelter for as many as two million of the weakened refugees as the monsoon rains grow heavier the reluctance or refusal of other state governments to take some of the refugees from West Bengal state, mounting local resentment and food and medical supply shortages.

From the accounts of the refugees, the campaign of the Pakistani Army against the Bengali independence movement has not abated.

The Indian Government estimates that it is spending about a million dollars a day on the refugees. If this continued indefinitely, economic development would be impaired inflation would soar and India would face a financial emergency at a time when her struggling economy was beginning to show signs of steady, though limited, progress.

The refugee flow has been heavy for two months but the relief effort from abroad is just starting to pick up.

Foreign governments have pledged about $40‐million in cash and relief goods but this only scratches the surface. If foreign interest of aid flags—many Indian officials believe that the flow of increased only because of the headlines about the cholera epidemic—India will be largely on her own again.

Trying to cope with the refuge influx has become like trying to hold back a flood by digging a ditch. As soon as the refugees fill one district others go on to the next. There is no way to make realistic plans to handle the influx because it never stops and because no one knows from what section of the 1,350‐mile border the next wave will come.

Government Aid Sought

West Bengal state of which Calcutta is the capital has absorbed most of the refugees — more than four million. State officials acknowledge that the problem has gone beyond them. They have asked the central Government to take over complete administration of the refugees and to send the army in.

New Delhi has rejected the idea of sending troops to West Bengal on the ground that this would weaken India's military defenses against Pakistan, but it has assumed some of the administrative burden.

No administrative arrangement however seems adequate the problem is too large.

Col. P. N. Luthra the New Delhi official sent to Calcutta to coordinate the relief operation sits bleary‐eyed at his desk trying futilely to handle the emergency requests for food tarpaulins medicine and transport.

“We need massive aid,” he said. “We can't handle this alone. This is a problem that has to be solved by the world community. It is not our fault that we are neighbors of East Pakistan and are, therefore, bearing the brunt of this.”

Some Minor Clashes

As the initial enthusiasm for the Bengali independence movement has turned into abrasion, Indian officials on all levels have become seriously worried about possible major violence between the local residents and the refugees.

Some minor clashes have already occurred, mostly in towns that have been swamped by refugees who camp on every available doorstep and in every field.

One result of these growing economic and social pressures is talk by private citizens about going to war to force Pakistan to pull her troops out of East Pakistan and to repatriate the refugees.

No War Preparations Visible

But while Government officials and senior army officers do not rule out the eventual possibility of war they stress that it would only be “a last, desperate resort" No war preparations by India are visible other than the shifting of some troops closer to the East Pakistan frontier because of several recent border clashes with Pakistani troops.

One pressure that has eased is the cholera epidemic among the refugees. Indian officials report that the death rate is decreasing as the vaccination campaign widens and more medical supplies reach thee badly affected refugee areas.

But death from other diseases and afflictions—continues at a steady rate. Malnutrition, exhaustion and gastrointestinal diseases are striking down large numbers of refugees daily As with all the other statistics about the refugees no exact death toll is available.

Tuberculosis is also endemic in refugee camps and the dampness of monsoon season will aggravate this situation.

Shelter a Major Problem

However the greatest problem brought by the monsoon rains and the resultant heavy flooding is that of providing shelter for the nearly two million refugees for whom there is no room in the refugee camps and who are living unprotected in the open.

Tents and tarpaulins have been given top priority on the. Indian relief‐supply list and foreign governments are being pressed to supply as many as they can.

Another immediate problem is transfer of refugees from West Bengal to other states. But the other states —having witnessed West Bengal's problems with the refugees —are balking,