PATNA: Taking note of the health hazard caused due to impure drinking water in the flood-affected areas, the health department has come up with an innovative idea to ensure the purification of drinking water sources in theaffected areas.
The department is adding packets, in the food packets being dropped amongmarooned people, which contains Halogen tablets. These are used for purifying the sources of drinking water. The department has also put in a slip with the tablets giving guidelines for the use of the tablets.
“Water-borne diseases are very common in flood-affected areas. Judicious use of Halogen tablets would reduce its possibility,” health department principal secretary Deepak Kumar said on Monday.
The department has also supplied sufficient stock of anti- diarrhoea medicines and anti-venom injections to all the primary health centres (PHCs) in the blocks of flood-affected districts of Supaul, Madhepura, Araria and Saharsa. This apart, special teams of doctors and paramedical staff have been constituted for providing round-the-clock services to the people who are staying in relief camps after being evacuated from the affected areas. “These teams have been provided with sufficient stock of emergency drugs which aregenerally required,” Kumar said.
He said the department has also charted out an elaborate programme forspraying bleaching powder in flood-affected areas once the water receded from there. “Men and material are being kept in readiness so that the spraying work could be taken up as soon as the water recedes,” Kumar said.
Incidentally, more than one million of state population is facing flood fury which has taken into its grip the areas which hitherto were not considered to be flood-prone. Inundation of these areas took the state government by surprise which had to mobilise resources in a very short period of time for extending help to the marooned people.
Apart from shelter, food and safe drinking water, health services are key to ensure a quality relief operation as deluge is generally accompanied byhealth hazards.
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