Nepali health officials on Thursday warned the government to gear up against the heightened risk of increased mortality due to outbreak of water borne diseases in the flood hit areas of Nepal.
Flood and landslide triggered by torrential rainfall in various parts of Nepal during recent weeks have so far claimed more than 91 lives and affected lives of approximately 235,000 people.
The annual monsoon rain which began since June this year also disrupted transportation and electricity supply and destroyed crops worth millions of U.S. dollars.
Although the department of meteorology said that monsoon rain would subside within the next few days, there is still a heightened risk of increased mortality and morbidity in the days ahead due to outbreak of communicable diseases and other factors such as snake bites.
The rising flood water is increasing the risk of water borne diseases such as viral fever,typhoid and dysentery.
"There is also the ever-present threat of mosquitoes breeding on stagnant floodwaters and the spread of malaria and encephalitis, " warned the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS).
The NRCS surveys indicated that the recent flood have caused extensive damage in 28 of Nepal's 75 districts,particularly in seven southern plains districts.
The National News Agency RSS reported Thursday,more than 34 Village Development Committees and Nepalgunj municipality of Banke district,some 370 km southwest of Kathmandu, have been widely affected by the incessant rain.
Nearly 41,000 people of the district have been completely affected by the downpour and flood, among which 2,311 households were entirely affected and more than 1,500 families displaced.
The NRCS said that more than 200 houses have collapsed due to the incessant rain in Banke district alone.
Meanwhile,various government and non-government organizations have launched campaign for relief and rehabilitation measures in the wake of floods and landslides.
The Nepali government on Sunday announced to release about 770, 000 U.S. dollars to provide relief package in the disaster-hit region.
Similarly,the government of the United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided 50,000 U. S. dollars, through USAID/Nepal, for the local purchase and transport of emergency relief supplies to save the children.
The United Nations system in Nepal has also responded rapidly to the request of the Nepali government for assistance.
The United Nations Population Fund has provided food and non- food items to 1,000 flood victims while United Nations International Children's Fund provided emergency supplies including water purification tablets from some 30,000 people in flood and landslide affected areas. The UNICEF has also dispatched 6,000 packets of oral rehydration salt through the NRCS to address the onset of diarrhea and dysentery that may arise due to contamination of water.
Similarly, the United Nations Mission in Nepal which is working for verification of arms and armies in Nepal has responded to the government request to make its choppers available to reach the disaster-hit region.
Source: Xinhua
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