Situation continues to be grim…

Panic gripped more than half of Orissa as high flood in river Mahanadi and its tributaries wreaked havoc and inundating more than 4897 villages of 102 Blocks and 21 ULBs in 19 Districts. This monsoon, September 2011 floods triggered by heavy rains over the past week and due to huge discharge of water from Hirakud dam have erupted turmoil in the entire state. It is officially reported that 41 persons have lost their lives in the calamity due to drowning, snake bite, etc. besides at least 16 persons are missing out of which 10 persons missing being swept away/ drowned in flood water but their dead bodies have not been found so far and thousands displaced. The livestock casualty including poultry stands at 1667. It reported damage of 116706 dwelling houses. The state govt. submitted a property damage estimate of 2120.92 crore of rupees and also crop damage over 2.87 lakh hectares.

Nearly 3.1 million people spread over 19 districts (out of 30 districts) have been affected very badly by this Mega Flood of 2011, nearly 60% of whom are women and children, most of them in the coastal districts of Puri, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur as well as the districts of Sambalpur, Boudh and Sonepur. The situation continues to be grim in several places of the affected 19 of 30 districts. Heavy discharge in Mahanadi River near Cuttack created a severe flood situation in Mahanadi river system. 11 districts located by the side of this river were affected. These unprecedented floods due to furious monsoon lashed the entire Orissa. Several lives were lost thousands of families are rendered homeless and taking shelter on roads and other government schools and hospitals and in the open.

On 10th September (Saturday evening) scores of villages had been emptied as people fled to high land to take shelter following reports that more water could swell the rivers further by midnight. The coastal region bore the brunt of the floods as roads in many places in Puri, Kendrapada, Jajpur, Jagatsingpur, and Cuttack districts were submerged. Hundreds of adjoining villages remained out of bound as the connecting roads also were submerged. Almost all river embankments had been packed with people and cattle. As on to-day river Mahanadi and its tributary Kathajodi are flowing above danger level and these two huge rivers are flowing on both sides of Cuttack city, the old capital of Orissa with 1.2 million people.

Meanwhile, as newspapers report, 33,000 affected people in Kendrapara, Jajpur, Subarnapur and Jharsuguda districts were being given food in 120 relief camps. Over 1,200 boats were deployed for rescue and relief operations, while 2.8 lakh people were evacuated from low-lying areas. The State government said it had so far evacuated nearly 75,000 people and put them in 152 free kitchen centers. But given the “grim scenario” the actual number of persons having fled their homes was said to be far more. Furthermore, the violence and continued bad weather have caused serious disruptions to basic communication facilities such as major roads and bridges, making access difficult.

Health status quo in Flood areas:

The government has also reported sharp rise in vector-transmitted water-borne diseases, acute respiratory illness and cases of diarrhea among children in the affected areas.

Moreover, the state government has expressed major concerns about a possible public health crisis resulting from the pollution of groundwater tables in affected villages and the destruction of the water supply system. The destruction of latrines observed in all the affected villages has raised the spectra of a possible fresh outbreak of cholera, which has become endemic in the affected areas.

According to available data, the number of cases of Malaria and other vector transmitted water borne diseases has risen in our target region of Mahanadi basin.

Outbreak of diseases in flood situations:

Unprepared and catastrophic flood often results in the displacement of people who may find themselves in overcrowded temporary settlement. There is always a fear of outbreaks of diseases in the aftermath of flood. Environmental health problems can quickly arise in these situations. One of the most important tasks is to improve the standards of environmental health. This involves provisioning of improved sanitation, adequate and safe water supplies, and a decent shelter. Common problems found among flood displaced population are diarrhea, pneumonia and other respiratory infections, malaria, tuberculosis, measles, eye and skin infections, etc. Outbreak of cholera in settlement poses a serious threat and the poor disposal of rubbish also creates breeding sites for mosquitoes and attracts rodents that may harbor disease transmitting fleas.

Root causes of the diseases:

Diseases caused by poor environmental conditions are frequently related to fecal oral route of contamination. Fecal oral diseases like diarrheas caused by drinking contaminated water, poor personal hygiene like lack of hand washing at critical times and by poor food hygiene that is contamination of food by flies. These diseases can be virulent in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions and frequently the major cause of illness during flood. Excreta are the major source of diseases unless there is a barrier to the fecal oral route. Shelter related diseases such as pneumonia, where people become more susceptible to infection due to cold and wet. Disease caused by insect and rodent vectors, such as malaria, the presence of water gives scope to the disease vectors, the mosquito to bread. Flooding may initially flush out mosquito breeding, but it comes back when the waters recede. The lag time is usually around 6-8 weeks before the onset of a malaria epidemic.

TThe only epidemic-prone infection which can be transmitted directly from contaminated water is leptospirosis, a zoonotic bacterial disease. Symptoms can take 2 – 26 days , average 10 days to develop, and may include, dry cough, fever, headache, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea and shaking chills. Transmission occurs through contact of the skin and mucous membranes with water, damp soil or vegetation, such as sugarcane or mud contaminated with rodent urine. The occurrence of flooding after heavy rainfall facilitates the spread of the organism due to the proliferation of rodents which shed large amounts of leptospiras in their urine.

While people’s susceptibility to infection varies; it is likely to be greater among children, old, malnourished, and in people who are already weak. Malnourished children are usually in high risk.

Orissa has been experiencing heavy rains for over a week, under the impact of which most rivers have been flowing nearly full. Before the state could witness any sign of normalcy, depression caused another spell of heavy pours flooding the Baitarani and its tributaries for the 2nd time this monsoon. This spectre has been the worst; already affecting nearly 3 lakhs people in 6 districts of the state puts the number of affected villages at 829 belonging to 252 Gram Panchayats of 25 Blocks of the 6 districts. 711 villages have been marooned and 1 person has reportedly died.

The Districts of Jajpur, Bhadrak, Kendrapada and Keonjhar have been seriously affected due to very high flood in river Brahmani and Baitarani. District of Mayurbhanj and Balasore have also been affected due to flood in Budhabalanga and other rivers. The State government has ordered all schools and colleges in the flood affected areas will remain closed till the situation returns to normal.

The ground reality is much more heart breaking. Please pray and help the victims to relieve them from their awful misery.