Disease adds to woes as waters recede

A disaster management department official in Bihar state said reports of diarrhea, viral fever, skin diseases, eye sores and throat infections had begun pouring in from far flung districts that were cut off for more than a month due to the raging floods.

Efforts were being made to get medical help to the affected areas, he said.

The Bihar state government has also constituted an "epidemic control cell" to monitor the situation in the 19 flood-hit districts where receding water has unleashed water-borne diseases.

"The cell is assessing round the clock the medical and other needs of the affected districts in fighting epidemic and will send drugs and other help when needed," state chief secretary K.A.H. Subramanian said.

More than four million water purifying halogen tablets have been distributed, he said.

Road and rail links were also being restored slowly in areas that had turned into lakes, submerging railway tracks, bridges and highways.

However, for the more than 21 million affected people, returning to their homes is still not easy as the much of the infrastructure has been damaged.

Water levels in at least six rivers that criss-cross the state have begun dropping quickly although two rivers -- the Gandak and Baghmati -- were still flowing above the danger mark, a Central Water Commission statement said.

The situation in the worst-affected districts of Darbhanga, Madhubani and Sitamarhi -- where 225 of the total 452 flood-related deaths in Bihar occurred -- was improving, Upendra Sharma, a spokesman of the disaster management department, said.

At many places where the water levels had dropped, rail links had been restored and short distance bus services had begun.

Subramanian said inadequate funds to deal with the crisis remained the government's biggest challenge.

"We face the difficult task of rehabilitating millions of displaced people as they have lost their houses and paddy crops in the flood," he said.