SRINAGAR: Emergency workers yesterday battled to prevent waterborne diseases like cholera from spreading as fetid water swilled around the Kashmir valley more than a week after the worst flooding in more than a century.
More than 75,000 people were still in partly submerged homes in Srinagar where roads have been transformed into stagnant canals strewn with wreckage, trash and dead animals.
“Floating carcasses have become a big source of worry with most houses still waterlogged. We are struggling to get in touch with government health officials,” said Abul Syed Rahman, who owns three hotels in Kashmir.
Altaf Hussein, a paediatrician who was treating flood victims in improvised camps, complained of shortages of life-saving drugs, intravenous fluids and sanitary products. “We need aerial fumigation ... as these waters can cause waterborne diseases, including cholera,” said Hussein.
Authorities say the cost of damage in Kashmir may run into billions of dollars. There were signs the relief operation was gaining traction as authorities brought in heavy-duty pumps to evacuate water from low-lying residential areas, including two from ONGC.
The federal government delivered 25 water filtration plants with the capacity to filter 400,000 litres a day, and 13 tonnes of water purification tablets.
More than 200,000 people have been rescued in the past eight days and communication networks partially restored.
“Finally, we are seeing some government officials trying to restore basic services. In the last eight days we had no help from the government,” said Alam Wani, a Srinagar bank official.
Hospitals were flooded when the Jhelum river burst its banks and staff scattered around the city were unable to get to work. Doctors were running out of medicines and surgical equipment as they struggled to provide emergency services in makeshift medical centres.
“Our medical headquarters is totally under water. It is very difficult to deal with critical cases. Thousands of patients need antibiotics and diabetics require insulin,” said doctor Hina Rahman.
Another doctor, Nisar Bhat, said he had treated more than 30 patients suffering from gastroenteritis in the last 24 hours.
Doctors said flood waters had damaged expensive equipment like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and X-ray machines.
People have been coming in with respiratory infections and gastric problems, said Zubair Khwaja, a doctor who normally works at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences but has been volunteering with the Muslim Students Board, a group that runs a religious school in Srinagar.
Municipal authorities said they had started collecting rubbish from pools of stagnant water and the fire department was using 20 fire engines to pump out waterlogged areas.
With acres of stagnant water remaining in the city, Khwaja warned the risk of waterborne diseases would increase. “You can smell the air,” he said.
More than 508,000 litres of water and over 1,054 tonnes of food packets and cooked food have already been distributed in the flood-affected areas.
Over 33,000 blankets are being airlifted to flood-affected area, which were donated by the ministry of textile, Red Cross Society and the governments of Jharkhand and Punjab. Earlier, 8,200 blankets and 1,572 tents were provided to the flood victims.
Besides 80 medical teams, four army field hospitals have been established. Till now they had treated around 53,082 patients. Two additional fully equipped field hospitals with laboratory testing equipment facility have also been established in Srinagar.
A rapid action medical team from the Air Force had been deployed at Avantipur and Srinagar. More relief materials including tents, water bottles and food packets were being airlifted from Delhi and Amritsar. So far, 80 transport aircraft and helicopters of the Indian Air Force and Army Aviation Corps have been pressed into service. The Army has deployed around 30,000 troops for rescue and relief work.
A total of 2,451 sorties have been undertaken by the helicopters and aircraft of armed forces, and 3,435 tonnes of relief materials have been dropped by the air force. Some 220 army boats and 148 inflatable boats of the National Disaster Response Force are involved in rescuing people still marooned in flood waters. To restore road connectivity, some 5,700 personnel of the Border Roads Organisation have been pressed into service.
Reuters/IANS
