Indian Floodwaters Recede; Threat of Disease Remains
Jay Shankar
Bloomberg News
Sep 9, 2008
Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Floodwaters that inundated 31 districts and affected more than 6 million people in India's northeastern states of Assam and Bihar have started to recede although the threat of disease remains, officials said.
"The situation has vastly improved over the last three to four days,'' V.K. Piparsania, Assam's principal secretary for disaster management, said by telephone from the state capital, Guwahati. "People have started going back to their homes.''
Floodwaters killed 108 people and forced 322,270 into government-run relief camps in the states. In Assam, the 2,906- kilometer (1,802-mile) Brahmaputra River, which originates in Tibet and snakes through the state and Bangladesh, breached embankments in 57 places, inundating villages.
The Kosi River burst a dam in neighboring Nepal on Aug. 18, flooding Bihar's Supaul district 7 kilometers downstream. The river changed course and shifted 120 kilometers eastward, inundating 16 districts in Bihar, one of India's poorest states.
India's June-September annual monsoon season accounts for four-fifths of the country's rainfall and this year triggered flash floods that killed 1,906 people, according to the federal National Disaster Management Division.
Relief supplies still haven't reached many villagers in Assam, said Dibyajyoti Dutta of the charity ActionAid. "There is no safe drinking water, no ample food and shelter,'' he said by telephone from Guwahati.
Paddy Fields
About 4,934 villages were affected by floods and 217,710 hectares (537,973 acres) of land, including 53,448 hectares of paddy fields, were submerged, Dutta said.
Waters have also started to recede in India's worst-hit state of Bihar, Disaster Management Additional Commissioner Pratayaya Amrit said by telephone from the state capital, Patna. ``There are 270,000 people in relief camps,'' he said, adding the government is now ``focusing on health and sanitation.''
Lack of sanitation and stagnant water, which is a breeding ground for mosquitoes, are creating an ``excellent recipe for disease,'' Balaji Singh, emergency coordinator for aid group CARE India, said in a telephone interview from New Delhi.
Diarrhea, Malaria
Diarrhea, malaria and medical disorders related to lack of nutrition are possible, Singh said.
About 1,850 villages inhabited by 3.3 million people in Bihar were flooded, the World Health Organization said Sept. 4.
A disease surveillance system put in place by the United Nations Children's Fund and the government has tracked 27,253 cases of fever, 179 cases of fever with rash, 14 cases of jaundice, 11,612 cases of respiratory tract infections and 3,267 cases of diarrhea in relief camps in Bihar, Unicef said in a statement today.
In neighboring Bangladesh, there was also flooding, though not to the same extent, said Masud Siddiqui, director-general of the country's Disaster Management Bureau.
"It is not a grave situation in Bangladesh,'' Siddiqui said by telephone from the capital, Dhaka. More than a third of the country's 64 districts experienced some flooding and at least 800,000 people were affected, with five deaths, he said.
There are about 150,000 people marooned in low-lying areas, he said, adding 15,000 people are in relief camps.
"The government is providing relief material such as rice and tents for temporary shelter,'' he said. ``Our soldiers are in the field and water is receding in most of the rivers.''
