By Pooja Saxena, in Assam
Standing on a massive deposit of silt,
or chaur land, where her house stood until recently, 75-year-old Fatima
Bibi cannot stop herself from cursing the Bhramaputra river. "This
is not a river but a man eating monster," she says.
Her son Noor Abbas has gone to a distant village to sell firewood so that he can purchase some rice for the family. Noor Abbas and Fatima Bibi have many reasons to curse the river. Noor has just lost his wife to severe diarrhoea contracted from polluted water, following the floods in India's north-eastern state of Assam. Besides his aged mother, he now must care for his two young sons, six-year-old Ahmed and four-year-old Ali.
Noor Ahmed has shifted his dwelling thrice in the past month. At the moment he is residing under a tarpaulin sheet donated by the Red Cross. He was, until recently, the proud owner of 15 bighas (45 acres) of land, but over the past two years, severe flooding in his village has swept away all trace of his land.
With 22 of its 24 districts affected, the state of Assam is reeling under one of the most widespread flooding in a long time, the worst floods in 50 years, according to the state's chief minister.
With the massive Bhramaputra river and its numerous tributaries flowing through, the state is prone to floods, which have an indelible impact on the state's population and their livelihoods. Vast stretches of land along the river banks have been eroded away. In Dhemaji alone, more than 600,000 people have been affected, with a worrisome health situation arising from the spread of water-borne diseases. Cases of viral fever, malaria, diarrhea and dysentery are increasing. The situation is also critical in the districts of Morigaon and Dhubri in Brahmaputra Valley and Hailakandi in Barak valley.
"At least 13 villages have been washed away in Morigaon," says Ashadul Islam, vice-president of the district council. Water-borne diseases like gastroenteritis, dysentery, jaundice and malaria have been on the rise, killing some 50 people.
The situation is so severe that the state's efforts to provide relief to the affected people have been insufficient, and in spite of accelerated relief efforts, there are acute shortages of essential commodities and clean drinking water, as well as an immense need for health services.
Amanullah Khandar, president of the South Salmara Regional local government says, "The floods this year were not only voluminous, but also had very strong currents. It took tremendous efforts to carry out relief and rescue operations by boat at the peak of flood".
The India Red Cross Society was one of the first agencies to undertake relief and rescue measures in the flood-affected districts, running a mobile medical unit and two relief camps a month, each lasting about 15 days. Says Jamar Ali, a volunteer doctor on the Indian Red Cross medical team: "We desperately need more medical teams. We provide medical treatment to some 250 patients every day, mostly for infectious water-borne diseases. We also provide free medicines."
The India Red Cross Society is also in the process of distributing family relief packages to 2,000 families. The family kits consist of kitchen utensils, a plastic bucket, a saree, (women's clothing), dhotis (men's clothing), bed sheets, cotton blankets, tarpaulin, ground sheeting and towels.
The Indian government has begun spraying DDT in malaria-prone regions, has opened 15 new health posts and set up eight relief camps in the worst-affected districts of Dhemaji and Saharsa. Basic food items such as rice, dal and salt are also distributed as well as medicines, fodder and cattle feed for the surviving animals.
During the last floods the Assam state Red Cross branch not only distributed 14,000 family packs and constructed a raised platform in Nalbari but also brought to the government's notice that in one of the most affected areas, Dhemaji and nearby regions, 70 hand tube wells were not functioning due to silting and needed urgent repairing. This timely diagnosis helped the local population as the local authorities rectified it.