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CNN Live At Daybreak

India Flood Victims Face Threat of Waterborne Disease

Aired July 23, 2001 - 07:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to the devastating flooding that's going on India: Overflowing rivers are starting to recede a bit, but flood victims face a growing threat of waterborne disease.

CNN's Satinder Bindra joins us now by videophone -- Satinder.

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Colleen.

That's exactly right -- officials very concerned about the spread of waterborne disease. It is starting to rain now. And there is more rain forecast for the day. That's likely to further compound the misery of some seven million people affected by these floods.

Here is the latest. Some 12,000 villages are still submerged, a half million people still marooned. Now, as the death toll in this tragedy climbs to 60, many more people are fleeing their villages for the safety of higher ground.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice over): They live in small clusters by roads and on any high ground they can find, reduced to this existence by a massive flood that's driven hundreds of thousands from their waterlogged homes. With just a small plastic sheet to protect them from rain, many here like Vichitra Swain are ill.

Every day, Swain and hundreds of others line up for treatment at mobile army clinics. But what the doctors here cannot cure is the helplessness and traumatized state of many of the survivors.

VICHITRA SWAIN, FLOOD VICTIM (through translator): I am unable to think. My stomach is empty. Only if my stomach is full will I be capable of thinking anything.

BINDRA: In some areas, officials have already recorded 2,000 cases of diarrhea and dysentery. With the water supply contaminated, concerned army doctors are now distributing water purifying tablets.

MAJOR BINAY MITRA, INDIAN ARMY (through translator): Dysentery could take an epidemic form. We are also scared that viral fever and hepatitis might also spread.

BINDRA: Food and hunger are also major concerns. To help distribute food, the Indian Army is operating seven boats in this region.

(on camera): These boats carry rice, cooking oil and polyethylene sheets for approximately 10,000 people marooned in this area alone. The army estimates 85 villages here have been completely cut off by floodwaters. So far, after four days of flying these boats, the army has managed to ferry and release supplies to only 25 of these villages.

(voice-over): One of these villages is Narsempor (ph). Today 400 village residents can look forward to a proper meal. They will also get treated by the visiting army doctor. One of the first in the lineup is Bhajani Dalai. He complains of a headache and a high fever. Later, Dalai takes us to his mud hut to show us how he survived when the floodwaters came gushing in.

BHAJANI DALAI, FLOOD VICTIM (through translator): There were 26 of us living on a small raised wooden platform. For three days, we ate nothing. We didn't know whether we would live or die.

BINDRA: Dalai says it will be...

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BINDRA: Now, many in this village don't know when the waters will recede from here. So like others, they are planning to build small rafts and then they plan to escape on these rafts to the safety of high ground -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: Satinder, there was a terrible cyclone there in 1999. How much did officials learn then in terms of preventing disease -- that kind of thing?

BINDRA: Well, Colleen, they have clearly learned a lot.

In 1999, when I was here, the administration appeared to be paralyzed. This time around, we have seen doctors going into villages trying to give people medication. We have seen army boats carrying food. The Indian air force has launched a massive relief operation. They fly several soirees a day. By today, they have approximately air dropped 200 tons of food.

Now, New Delhi has also stepped in to help. And they have offered millions of dollars in aid. So, clearly, from the days in 1999, the officials have learned. This time, there is not widespread hunger at least, which is what I noticed here back in 1999 -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: All right, CNN's Satinder Bindra, thanks.

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