Receding flood waters leave behind a trail of diseases in Orissa

Kendrapada (Orissa), Oct 2 : Misery continues for people in Orissa as receding flood water has left behind a trail of diseases in the region.

Large numbers of people in Kendrapada district have been grappling with water borne diseases like diarrhoea, skin infections and other ailments.

People are lamenting negligence on part of authorities in providing medical aid.

"Due to being continuously surrounded by flood water for past so many days, people are now suffering from diseases like diarrhoea and fever. We are in a lot of trouble and authorities have not been very forthcoming in helping us," said Prakash Senapati, a resident.

Medical authorities on their part say they are doing their level best to administer aid to the needy and have deployed substantial number of health teams to deal with the outbreak of diseases.

"We have got 33 medical relief centres in flood affected areas and also 84 health teams from our district are working. We have already treated 30,000 patients in flood affected areas. We have distributed 1.4 million halogen tablets and 18,000 ORS pouches have been distributed. We are creating awareness by making announcements and educating the people to prevent any epidemic in future," said Kashinath Nayak, Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO).

Meanwhile, the State Government decided to continue the rescue and relief operations atleast for the next 15 days.

ANI