Dehradun, June 27
The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) has detected around 145 odd cases of diarrhoea in several places in Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag and Chamoli that have been affected by floods.

Uttarakhand is facing the threat of epidemic outbreak due to rotting bodies.

In Udvi and Chandrapuri, children and adults have taken ill due to contamination of food and water, health officials said. “We are working round the clock to ensure that there is no outbreak of any epidemic, but the prevailing weather conditions with intermittent rains and sunshine could provide a fertile ground for the outbreak of epidemics,” said Dr Kiran Bisht, Joint Director, IDSP (Uttarakhand).

The Union Health Ministry teams, which are already camping in Uttarakhand and are working under Principal Secretary, Health, R. Ramaswamy, have further strengthened the state health teams.

“A specialist from the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme has also been placed in the state to counter any outbreak of vector-borne diseases,” said Piyush Singh, Additional Secretary, Health and Family Welfare.

The Health department has also taken preventive measures like chlorination of water and spraying of bleaching powder around open drains and open water sites. Experts from the Health Department say that while there is no fear of an epidemic breaking out in areas having cold conditions, the rotting bodies are now being eaten by animals and need to be disposed of at the earliest.

“A vector is a carrier that spreads the disease from an infected animal to an uninfected human or animal. As such the rotting bodies could compound the matter,” said Dr Bisht.

Sensing the enormity of the situation the Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust (HIHT) is also sending medical teams to the disaster affected areas of the state. “So far the rescue and relief operations were focused on stranded persons belonging to other states. Now, united efforts are required to help local villagers to cope up with the disaster and ensure that no epidemic breaks out in the state,” said Vijay Dhasmana, Director, HIHT.

While mass cremations were performed at Kedarnath today several bodies continue to remain buried in the debris, thus posing a considerable challenge for the local administration and health officials.

Dehradun, June 27
Amid fears that decomposing bodies at Kedarnath could result into an outbreak of epidemic, the teams working at Kedarnath have started putting bleaching powder in drinking water sources to check any possibility of spread of contagious diseases even as cremation of 18 bodies have been done so far.

These 18 decomposed bodies cremated at Kedarnath include 10 males and 8 females. All DNA and photographic records have been kept for future reference.

In charge for cremations at Kedarnath and Senior Uttarakhand police officer Sanjay Gunjiyal denied any epidemic-like situation in Kedarnath. He said they have already put bleaching powder and other chemicals at natural water resources where there was a possibility of any contamination of water.

He disclosed that a team of doctors are also monitoring the situation. He denied that some of the personnel conducting cremation exercise were reported ill. “One of the personnel reported a heart problem, while another had fever. Both of them have been sent back. It has nothing to do with any spread of contagious disease”, Gunjiyal said.

He disclosed that 18 bodies have been cremated at Kedarnath so far and the photographs of the bodies cremated will also be released shortly. He said speedy conduct of cremations is being done and it may be some more time before it gets completed.

A team of forensic experts also accompanied the National Disaster Relief Force along with Uttarakhand authorities so as to ensure proper DNA sampling of the decomposed bodies.

Sources reveal that many bodies are buried deep in debris and it would not be easy retrieving these bodies back and, thus, identifying the deceased victims individually would not be easy. Meanwhile, 433 FIRs linked to missing persons were lodged at various districts of Garhwal region. Further, 4 out of 20 bodies that were pulled out of the Ganga in Haridwar have been identified. Cremations of 18 have also been performed.

Cremations have also been undertaken of bodies recovered from other parts of Garhwal linked to disaster. These include 3 bodies recovered from Rishikesh and 5 bodies from Pauri Garhwal region.

Haridwar, June 27
The district administration has sounded an alert in the Lakshar-Roorkee river belt in view of a flood-like situation in lower reaches of Haridwar.

District Magistrate, Haridwar, Nidhi Pandey is monitoring the situation as rains lashed the region this evening. The water level in the Ganga has risen, forcing the administration to shift 12-odd families living near the river to safe places.

According to administrative officials, about 450 families have been shifted to relief camps at Lakshar in view of a flood-like situation in the tehsil.

The Provincial Armed Constabulary has also been deputed in the flood-prone areas and its special water force wing has evacuated six people from flooded Gangdaspur village.

A rescue motorboat, a team of doctors and an ambulance have been pressed into service in flood affected villages. A relief camp is being held at the Panchleshwar Mahadev temple for the affected people of Sherpur Bela village.

Pandey has also directed the officials of the Irrigation Department to repair damaged embankments of the Ganga at Sherpur Bela village, as funds were provided for the embankment last year.

Gang Daspur, Bada Gang Daspur, Sherpur Bela, Maharaj Pur Khurd, Maharaj Pur Kalan, Sonparri, Nand Pur, Pandit Pur and Bahadrabad villages were most affected due to heavy rains last fortnight.

Khanpur legislator Kunwar Pranav Champion and Lakshar MLA Sanjay Gupta informed the District Magistrate that compensation given to the flood affected people had not changed for decades. They demanded that the parameters for the grant of compensation should be changed.

The District Magistrate also gave directions for a survey of the loss to crops and property due to the rains.

Dehradun, June 27
It was a political tussle that consumed the Congress government right throughout the tenure of Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna. Now an unseemly game of oneupmanship has engulfed the various departments, which is affecting the smooth functioning of the state government agencies.

As it is with the Central agencies taking most of the rescue work, the state government agencies have been asked to coordinate efforts on the ground but the politicking between various departments has caste a shadow on these efforts.

Take the issue of providing information on the number of missing persons and coordinating relief operations. While a few days ago, Secretary (Sports and Youth affairs) Ajay Pradhyot was entrusted with the task of preparing the data base, as soon the announcement was made the charge was taken from him and shifted to the Department of Home.

The result is till date, the government has no numbers on the missing persons.

A few days ago, Chief Secretary Subash Kumar had pegged the number at 307 on the basis of complaints lodged by the police. The officials are still engaged in number crunching games leaving room for speculation and rumours to abound.

Similarly, the Department of Disaster Management and Relief has become a punching bag for all and sundry with finger pointing and questions being raised about the working style of the the Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre (DMMC) under the Department of Disaster and Relief.

All this while, while the DMMC became the scapegoat, the Department of Tourism suddenly decided to lend a helping hand on the number of missing persons.

Clearly had the Congress government heeded the advice of former Chief Minister ND Tiwari who during the fag-end of his tenure had proposed the creation of a separate department dedicated to pilgrimage that would be separate from Department of Tourism, the problem of managing such a large influx of tourists and pilgrims who overlap each other would have been resolved.

Haridwar, June 27
The natural calamity in Uttarakhand has affected hoteliers and tour-taxi operators, particularly in pilgrim city of Haridwar, which is considered to be a gateway to the revered Himalayan-based shrines.

June is the peak season for hotels-tour operators as it is the time of the Chardham-Hemkunt Sahib pilgrimages, but now it seems to be like the winter season (off season) time for them.

Local people and businessmen involved in this trade say that this is the first time in their life when they are seeing Haridwar devoid of pilgrims and tourists in June.

City-based hotels that have mushroomed in the recent past along Ganga ghats and in the periphery industrial area of SIDCUL-Roshanabad are vacant, with many now offering discounts.

Hotelier Sanjay Verma says that hospitality related people wait for summer season throughout the year, but this year due to natural fury, their business has got affected majorly.

Panchpuri Traveller Welfare Society chief Manoj Chauhan has demanded special concession for travel operators and vehicle drivers as many of them had taken huge loans to procure vehicles for the pilgrimage-tourist season.

He said that at the very beginning of the season, tragedy had struck Uttarakhand and whole business had got badly affected. Many vehicles hadwashed away in the flash flood while hundreds were stuck in the yatra route.

Travel agencies and hotel representatives have also demanded a concession on taxes being levied on them from the state government. The Garhwal Mandal Owners Union Limited office wears a deserted look. Until a fortnight ago, it was unavailable to take advance yatra bookings owing to a huge turnout of pilgrims for the Char Dham pilgrimage.

Tour operators say that due to the heavy flash flood and roads getting damaged, the pilgrimages has got affected, so they are in no position to give taxes.

The managers of Yash Travels, Uttarakhand Shri Ram Travels, Guajrat Shri Nath Travels, Sri Dhar Travels, Shiv Moorti and Char Dham Travels Tour Operators confirmed that they were suffering huge losses and the floods had affected the livelihood of thousands of people associated with this business.

Though the Char Dham-Hemkunt Sahib pilgrimage has been closed for time being by the state government, a few people are still inquiring about bookings from these operators.

Dehradun, June 27
The relatives of stranded or missing pilgrims are provided free of cost food, bottled water and vehicles from Sahastardhara helipad to police control room to gather information about their missing family members, but they have not been provided any accommodation free of cost.

Most of the relatives of these pilgrims have come from either middle class or lower-middle class and paying hotel charges is costing them dear. As they don't know how long they will have to stay in the city to find their family members, they have begun expressing their worry on the matter.

Ram Babu Vaidh, who has come from Jaipur to look for 13 members of his family who have gone missing in this disaster, said, "We are getting all the facilities, but not accommodation to stay from the state government. Some 20 members of my joint family are staying in a local hotel here which is charging a high fare from us. We have been staying for the past eight days. Since our family members have not been traced yet, we might have to stay for a much longer period. It has become difficult for us to pay for the hotel charges and food."

He said he wanted to send his relatives back home to Jaipur but they have refused, saying that they could not show their face back home if they did not bring the lost family members along with them.

Large groups of joint families from other districts for the Chardham yatra have come.

Anil Verma, who has travelled all the way from Chhattisgarh to search for his family members said had the state government provided them accommodation free of cost and arranged food there, they could have saved some

money. Each day costs them at least Rs 1,000 on food and hotel itself while the transportation fare spent in travelling from one place to another -- from Haridwar, Rishkesh and Dehradun and other disaster control centres to collect information about the rescued as well as missing persons was separate.

Ram Kumar, a native of Bareli, Uttar Pardesh, said he was living in bad conditions as in order to save money, he put up in a sub-standard hotel which, it seemed, had not been cleaned for ages and served bad food. It added to his already miserable condition.

They said they had not get any assurance from the district administration or politicians in this regard, but some volunteers had come forward. Among them is Ashish Aggarwal, who has come from Delhi to look for his friend's family members. He has promised five rooms on Rajpur Road.

Another volunteer, Gen Chander Nandwani (retd), said he had arranged for 50 rooms in Aggarwal Dharamsala and also food in an adjoining eatery free of cost. He has also offered the services of two doctors for those with complaints of any ailments.

Thanks to these volunteers, the temporary arrangements for some relatives of stranded pilgrims could be made, but the numbers of those waiting at the helipad is much more. The state government should do something urgently about it soon.

Dehradun, June 27
A woman labourer mending a road at Bhatwadi near Uttarkashi was today swept away by the slush flowing from the mountains and seriously injured. She was flown in a helicopter to the Sahastardhara helipad within two hours of the incident and admitted to Max Hospital.

The victim has been identified as Saroj Bhatt. Two other labourers accompanied her. Meanwhile, Dr Madhukar Upadhyaya, an Army officer, and his parents were rescued from Joshimath. They had come on pilgrimage from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Upadhyaya said they had faced no problem in the relief camp as they were provided food in the mass kitchen organized by volunteers and were well taken care of by local people.

The family of Lalit Rana, a resident of Raipur Road in Dehradun, including his son and daughter, too reached the helipad. They were brought from Badrinath.

His teenaged daughter said she cried many times as it was becoming difficult for her to stay in the cramped camp. They were trapped in Joshimath for the past 10 days.