Finally, health ministry acts on Uttarakhand

Ten days after the devastating floods in Uttarakhand, the Union health ministry has swung into action, with a high-level team heading to the state to review public health measures.

According to the ministry, three public health teams from the Centre have reported to the principal secretary (health) only on June 23, a week after floods and landslides left a trail of destruction in Uttarakhand.

Even as the official death toll is inching towards 1,000 and 8,000 people are still stranded in the flood-ravaged state, the health ministry has sent just one specialist from the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme for providing assistance to those affected.

Moreover, the health ministry is still in the process of procuring I million chlorine tablets. “On the state’s request, 10,00,000 chlorine tablets are being procured,” the health ministry said in a statement.

According to a health ministry official, the Uttarakhand government has sent a list of 60 items which includes medicines as well as other essential requirements. While these medicines are in the process of being procured in bulk, three truck loads of interim medical supplies were sent to the state on Monday.

The health ministry said eight additional health teams were kept on standby and could move on short notice if there is a requirement.

According to an official source, the Cabinet Secretariat also called for a meeting on Tuesday evening to take a stock of the ongoing relief measures. The meeting was also attended by KN Desiraju, Secretary to the health ministry.

The government has been able to address some cases of diarrhoea at an incipient stage in Haridwar, Uttarkashi and Rudraprayag. "No outbreak of water-borne, food-borne, air-borne or direct contact diseases has been reported from the affected areas," the ministry said.

While hundreds of dead bodies are lying in different parts of the Kedar valley and are decomposing rapidly, reports suggest authorities are preparing for a mass cremation of those who died in the tragedy to avoid an outbreak of epidemics.