Haryana floods: Water starts receding in some villages, fear of disease looms
Parveen Arora
Karnal, July 14
Floodwater has started receding in some villages which were inundated till yesterday. However, the fear of water and vector-borne diseases has gripped villagers.
Floodwaters enter over 15 villages in Fatehabad
- The flood situation continued to worsen in Fatehabad district as water has submerged fields in about 15 villages in the district. The floodwaters continue to enter the district from the Punjab side
- The condition in some of the villages was stated to be critical as residents feared that the floodwater could enter the residential areas as the water level had been rising daily
- Senior officials of Fatehabad district in Haryana and Mansa district of Punjab are camping near Chandpura village located on the Punjab borders to keep a tab on the situation
- Sources said a breach in the bundh could cause massive flooding in many villages in Mansa district. Also, the accumulation of water on Chandpura bandh could pose flood threat on the Haryana side
“The breeding of mosquitoes may result in the spread of malaria and dengue. The authorities should take timely steps to stop the spread of diseases,” said Rajbir, a resident of the Indri block.
Meanwhile, anticipating the spread of diseases, the district authorities have deployed teams of the Health Department in villages, along with mobile teams. Health officials have been instructed to take all precautions to prevent the outbreak of any diseases in the flood-hit villages. They have also been told to spray disinfectants in the places affected by floods,” said Anish Yadav, Deputy Commissioner, Karnal.
The authorities of the Public Health Department have been instructed to ensure potable water supply in flood-hit villages. Power supply is also being restored in different villages, the DC added.
Gaurav Saini, SDO, Public Health Department, said they had been collecting samples from villages to check the quality of water. Apart from restoring the water supply to 13 villages, including Chandrao, Khark, Gadhpur, Samaspur, Musepur, Kalsora, Bibipur Brahmin, Dabkoli Kalan, Dabkoli Khurd, Japti Chapra, Nangal Mandal, Randoli, and Gheer villages, water was being supplied to 16 villages through water tankers and campers. The chlorination of water was being done, he added.
The threat of flood also looms in some villages of the Gharaunda block as the water, which had entered rural areas, is now moving towards the villages lying in the Gharaunda block limits and Kunjpura, Rasulpur Kalan, Sarfabad Majra, Sekhpura Suhana and other villages.
Residents of Rasulpur Kalan and Sekhpura Suhana villages have been told to shift to safer places.
The Karnal Red Cross Society has distributed around 3,000 food packets, comprising packed milk, biscuits, water bottle and namkin, to various villages, where connectivity has been hampered owing to the submerging of roads.
In Kaithal district, Commissioner, Irrigation Department, Pankaj Agarwal, reviewed the rescue operation in the flood-hit villages of the Cheeka area and said that breaches in the Ghaggar, Hansi Butana and bundhs would be plugged after the water receded.
Deputy Commissioner, Kaithal, Jagdish Sharma, said they had been making all-out efforts to evacuate people stranded in different locations. He said till Thursday, they had rescued 96 people and their focus was on 34 villages affected due to the floods.
