Uttarakhand is battling the spread of epidemic in flash flood-hit areas and has launched an integrated disease surveillance programme in Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi and Haridwar districts.
Several residents of Alwalpur, Udvi and Chandrapuri are suffering from diarrhoea, fever and pneumonia. State officials said a rapid response team was deployed to address concerns of epidemic. New cases of diarrhoea and fever were reported from Rampur and Sitapur villages, situated in Kedar valley. According to state officials, a team of doctors was rushed to these villages.
Number of Missing on Rise
Uttarakhand officials said they have listed 3,000 persons as missing based on complaints received in the state’s emergency control room. A letter was also sent to the chief secretaries of all the state governments to verify the details of missing persons from their states who had recently visited Uttarakhand.
“We’ve started a missing cell to collect and collate all the information received from the districts and registration camps set up at Dehra Dun. Efforts are also on to scan all the photographs of these persons to be posted on websites. Officials are also making calls to the relatives of missing persons to update the present status,” officials said.
Focus Shifts to LocaL Population
As rescuers clear the debris and plan to airlift remaining pilgrims stranded at Badrinath, the villagers of three districts are in limbo. After over 11 days since the Himalayan tsunami ripped through the three districts -- Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi -- residents of 2,479 villages are yet to receive government relief. A senior state official said though official figures estimated only 2,232 houses were damaged, it could be more.
“We received information that Chandrapuri village is totally destroyed. Of the 67 houses, 63 were swept away in the floods and as many as 30 shops were damaged. Villagers are sleeping in the open. About 27 villages are completely cut off in Rudraprayag and they have no ration for the last one week,” he said.
On Thursday, the District Magistrate of three affected districts was asked to airdrop food, medical supplies and other relief material to the villages. The state government said that in the next three days it will ensure that there is no food shortage in any affected village and it is providing a helicopter in each district. “Army and civilian helicopters will operate for the next one month to provide air connectivity to the affected villages. These choppers will take supplies and airlift ill or old people requiring medical attention,” Uttarakhand Govt said.