Assam’s bid to check cholera
From Our Shillong Office, JUNE 8. At least 75 cases of death from cholera and gastroenteritis in different evacuee camps in Assam and Meghalaya were reported till Saturday last out of a total number of 246 attacks. No fresh attack was reported.
As precautionary measures all evacuees living in camps in Assam and 80 percent of inhabitants of surrounding villages have been inoculated against cholera and smallpox. DDT has been sprayed in and around camps and pit latrines were properly disinfected. Surrounding tanks and other water sources were also disinfected. A number of tube-wells and ring-wells have been arranged for drinking water.
Although an unprecedented and heavy influx of refugees from Bangladesh has considerably strained health services of the State, no effort has been spared to meet the situation even with limited resources in men and material.
A team of doctors from Gauhati Medical College it was learnt was also getting ready to combat the epidemic and to have a thorough inquiry into sources and types of Infection. Currently a number of doctors are exclusively working in evacuee camps and medical officers of nearby dispensaries, primary health centers and hospitals are also rendering their services in these camps.
The medical staff are also working round the clock. Three doctors and 13 paramedical staff have also been recruited for the purpose on the daily wage basis from amongst the evacuees.
One of the worst hit is the camp at Balat, a small village in southern Khasi Mills of Meghalaya close to the East Bengal border. PTI adds.
The tribal village of Balat with a population numbering roughly 1,000 has been overwhelmed by the influx of about 50,000 East Bengal refugees of whom about 30,000 are living in camps next to the village and the remainder moving around searching for food and shelter.
With the outbreak of the epidemic a number of merchants, shop-keepers and hoteliers have fled and not even a tea shop is open in some border areas.
Meghalaya has a refugee population of more than 300,000 many of whom in tattered clothes are exposed to the monsoon rain. They sit muddled around bushes and trees waiting to be rehabilitated.
Reference: Hindustan Standard, 09.06.1971