Srinagar: The devastating floods that hit Srinagar and South Kashmir in the last week have left behind them a trail of devastation and destruction. As some people still remain stranded and are being rescued, major focus has shifted towards relief work. Temporary relief shelters are being created in various parts of the Srinagar city. Gurdwaras, mosques and Dar ul Ulooms are also being used to shelter people. It is a humanitarian crisis the scale of which has never been witnessed in the recent history of Kashmir.
Kashmir has not seen a flood on this scale. As this tragedy unfolds, it is not only the loss to life and property that these floods have brought, but other complexities and problems have also arisen because of them. The immediate focus right now is to organize relief supplies of food and essential medicine to the affected areas. But as time passes by, various facets of this problem will come to the fore.
As waters begin to recedes in various parts of Srinagar and South Kashmir, there are reports of animal carcasses floating at different places being seen. With an administration, which is in complete limbo, it will be too optimistic to believe that once the waters recede, and that in itself is a herculean task, one will see civil authorities going all out to bring back the affected areas to normalcy and clear it of all the garbage that lays littered at various places. Not only is the garbage raising a stink, but it is the contamination of water that is caused by the flood and the seeping of the garbage into water , that can turn into a major health hazard.
Many relief workers have focused on trying to procure chlorine tablets and even people in the affected areas are being educated through the medium of social medium an d word of mouth about the possibility of the lurking disease and how best to avoid it. In flood affected areas, the major problems are caused by water borne diseases and people in these areas need to be cautious about the quality of water used. With supplies remaining scarce and the major sources of water in the flood affected areas contaminated, people should use fully boiled water and even use chlorine tablets whenever available to keep the water clean and save themselves from various water borne diseases.
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