In Bonpora, a village about 25 km away from Srinagar, the water is still about five feet high. As if that isn't distressing enough, Bonpora is swirling with hundreds of dead chickens. Said one resident, ““Every time we move out of our houses we have to pass through these dead chickens.”
Before this fortnight’s devastating flood, Bonpora had several poultry farms. As the water swept over the cages and broke them open, dead birds floated to the surface. Parasites began to feed on the carcasses and an unbearable stench filled with village. Residents trying to leave their homes have no option but to wade through chest-high water filled with rotting chicken flesh and feathers.
Already, several villagers have contracted diarrhoea and residents fear an outbreak of cholera. Said Bonpora resident Ghulam Mohammad, “Our lives are at risk. This water is poison for us.”
Bloated carcasses
Similar sights are visible in other parts of Kashmir. At the far end of Batamaloo, on the way to Baramulla, more than 300 cows on an army farm have drowned. Dogs are feeding on the bloated carcasses.
“Dead animals are contaminating the water and nobody is taking them out or disinfecting the water,” said a resident named Manzoor Ahmad. “Our kids are down with very high fever from last several days…There is every possibility of a cholera outbreak here.”
With major hospitals either submerged or impossible to reach, residents are being treated in medical camps run by volunteers.
Doctors running various medical camps in Srinagar say they are worried that epidemics of water-borne diseases could erupt if preventive measures are not taken. “Almost everyone is getting in contact with the water which needs to be flushed out or either disinfected as soon as possible,” said Dr Akram Majeed, a physician has been running a medical camp in Srinagar. He is examining hundreds of patients every day, most of whose conditions are related to consuming contaminated water.
But the task has been hampered by the shortage of medicines. “If we don’t start giving proper vaccines to people who have been in contact with the infected flood water, the repercussions can be disastrous,” Dr Majeed said.
Purification tablets
For now, medical camps are distributing chlorine tablets so that residents can purify their water.
The spread of disease could also be exacerbated by the huge piles of filth that the flood has left in its wake. In Old City of Srinagar, residents have started to burning the mounds of garbage, since the authorities are unable to clear them.
The state’s department of health services is attempting to deploy doctors and paramedics across the Valley, as also to dispatch drugs and medicines. “The [union] health minister has proposed that boats be mobilised to send medical supplies to people in the inundated areas of Srinagar who find it impossible to venture out of their homes," Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Sunday.
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Before this fortnight’s devastating flood, Bonpora had several poultry farms. As the water swept over the cages and broke them open, dead birds floated to the surface. Parasites began to feed on the carcasses and an unbearable stench filled with village. Residents trying to leave their homes have no option but to wade through chest-high water filled with rotting chicken flesh and feathers.
Already, several villagers have contracted diarrhoea and residents fear an outbreak of cholera. Said Bonpora resident Ghulam Mohammad, “Our lives are at risk. This water is poison for us.”
Bloated carcasses
Similar sights are visible in other parts of Kashmir. At the far end of Batamaloo, on the way to Baramulla, more than 300 cows on an army farm have drowned. Dogs are feeding on the bloated carcasses.
“Dead animals are contaminating the water and nobody is taking them out or disinfecting the water,” said a resident named Manzoor Ahmad. “Our kids are down with very high fever from last several days…There is every possibility of a cholera outbreak here.”
With major hospitals either submerged or impossible to reach, residents are being treated in medical camps run by volunteers.
Doctors running various medical camps in Srinagar say they are worried that epidemics of water-borne diseases could erupt if preventive measures are not taken. “Almost everyone is getting in contact with the water which needs to be flushed out or either disinfected as soon as possible,” said Dr Akram Majeed, a physician has been running a medical camp in Srinagar. He is examining hundreds of patients every day, most of whose conditions are related to consuming contaminated water.
But the task has been hampered by the shortage of medicines. “If we don’t start giving proper vaccines to people who have been in contact with the infected flood water, the repercussions can be disastrous,” Dr Majeed said.
Purification tablets
For now, medical camps are distributing chlorine tablets so that residents can purify their water.
The spread of disease could also be exacerbated by the huge piles of filth that the flood has left in its wake. In Old City of Srinagar, residents have started to burning the mounds of garbage, since the authorities are unable to clear them.
The state’s department of health services is attempting to deploy doctors and paramedics across the Valley, as also to dispatch drugs and medicines. “The [union] health minister has proposed that boats be mobilised to send medical supplies to people in the inundated areas of Srinagar who find it impossible to venture out of their homes," Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Sunday.
