Surat may face plague-like situation

Chennai: The spectre of the 1994 plague that claimed 50 lives may revisit Surat in Gujarat, a disaster management institute has warned.

The Academy for Disaster Management, Education, Planning and Training (ADEPT) here has issued a special health alert to non-government organisations (NGOs) and residents of Surat, Gujarat's second largest city and a major diamond processing and textile hub.

In a specific note on Surat, ADEPT observed: "Residents of Surat have begun to throw out rotting food, soggy mattresses and all garbage on the roads as the floods recede."

"Here the spectre of the 1994 plague that began in Surat looms large," ADEPT director U Gauthamadas told IANS.

"After the 1994 flood people started dumping garbage on the streets creating an environment for rats to thrive in.

Villagers moved to new homes and converted their old, damaged homes into granaries to store food. The rats thrived here," he pointed out.

ADEPT has issued some guidelines to prevent the outbreak of plague. "To prevent a plague risk effective environmental sanitation must be ensured in places where people live, work and visit for recreation."

"All food sources for rats should be removed and homes, buildings, workplaces, warehouses and feed sheds should be made rat-proof."

It said if sick or dead rats are spotted it should be reported to the health department.

ADEPT has also issued a dos and don'ts for NGOs and civil society groups engaged in flood relief work across the country. The floods have affected at least five million people this year.

The institute asked people to take precautionary measures like drinking treated water, eating cooked food and using mosquito repellents. They should not throw wastes on the streets.

"The major risk factor for outbreaks associated with flooding is the contamination of drinking water facilities," Gauthamadas said.

"As water levels recede in flood-hit Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Orissa, rotting animal carcasses, issues of sanitation and problems of sewage from septic tanks, cesspools, sewers and pit privies, contaminating wells and drinking watersheds have arisen."