Washington Star/Evening Star

BADURIA, INDIA (AP).—The procession to Baduria's cremation landing with the bodies of refugees from East Pakistan is endless.
Until mid-June, cholera was the main killer among the poorly dressed, shelterless refugees in this jute center 45 miles from Calcutta and in hundreds of other refugee camps along the East Pakistan frontier.
Now bronchial pneumonia. fever, chicken pox and measles, all aggravated by the monsoon rains that began last weekend. are taking their toll.

EPIDEMIC QUELLED

Relief officials in Calcutta fear the death toll may rise sharply in the next few weeks when the monsoons intensify.
The officials say that thanks to medicines rushed to India from around the world, they were able to quell last month's cholera epidemic, which took more than 5,000 lives.
But they still desperately need foreign help for tents, tarpaulins and waterproofing material to provide shelter for an estimated 2 million refugees living in the open.
Although about 7,000 miles of 6-foot-wide shelter material is needed immediately, according to government estimates, only about 200 miles of material has been obtained from foreign and local sources so far.

"WE CANNOT WAIT"

An official of the refugee rehabilitation directorate in Calcutta said: "We cannot wait months for tarpaulins. The monsoon has already set in and disease and deaths will soon keep mounting unless some shelter is arranged."
With the monsoon rains spreading human wastes through the refugee communities, the officials expressed fear that cholera could strike a second time—and with greater force than before. He said only about a third of the 6 million refugees in India have been inoculated against cholera.
The lucky refugees are those who have been admitted to semi-permanent camps, built with tents and tarpaulins. But even in these, refugees frequently have to walk through ankledeep mud because of poor or nonexistent drainage facilities.
Those outside camps live along roadsides or in makeshift shelters made of palm leaves that offer no protection against the monsoon.