After floods, Kerala fights waste, disease
HEAPS OF BROKEN FURNITURE, BEDS, OLD CLOTHES DESTROYED IN THE DELUGE ARE SCATTERED IN SOME AREAS
In the wake of the recent devastating floods, it will take months for thousands of families in Kerala to reclaim their livelihoods. But well before that happens, there are twin issues demanding immediate attention of the state — the disposal of mountains of waste, and arresting the spread of diseases.
In Aluva and Paravur, where floods submerged thousands of houses and other buildings, domestic waste is scattered across the landscape, with heaps of broken furniture, beds, old clothes and assorted home equipment destroyed in the floods.
Medicine distributed
Rat fever (leptospirosis) has been reported across multiple districts and the death toll from the disease in Kozhikode district alone for August was put at 12. Roughly 400,000 doses of preventive medicine for rat fever has been distributed in the district.
Meanwhile, authorities have issued strict instructions that waste should not be dumped into water bodies, but the warnings often go unheeded.
Earlier this week, there was a skirmish at the Ponnani harbour when a group of people attempted to dump waste at the harbour, and another group opposed them. Police used force against a group of United Democratic Front activists who opposed dumping of debris collected from flood-hit areas at the Ponnani harbour.
Elsewhere, the waste collected by some panchayat and Kudumbasree workers was also lying by the waysides, awaiting an appropriate plan to deal with it.
Local communities were also grappling with the issues of rotting carcasses of domestic animals, and large amounts of e-waste.
Rough figures put the amount of waste collected so far at 34,000 tonnes. Nearly 600,000 wells were contaminated as flood waters covered them, and about 475,000 of these have been cleaned so far.
Rat fever has been reported mostly from Kozhikode, Malappuram and Palakkad districts, and the death toll from the state as a whole in August has been put at 23.
Health department officials have advised people showing any of the symptoms including fever, headache, red eyes and vomiting, to seek treatment.