Doctors stuck in Uttarakhand

Teams of doctors that had left from here for flood-ravaged Uttarakhand three days ago, are stuck in Dehradun. They have not been able to reach the affected areas where people are stranded and need care.

The Centre has, however, managed to supply three truck loads of antibiotics, analgesics, intravenous fluids and anti-diarrhoeal medicines to meet the immediate requirement.  

“We had sent three public health teams on June 23 but even those teams are stuck at Dehradun because of bad weather and could not be deployed as yet in the remote areas where they are required,” said a senior health ministry official, in know of developments.

According to the official, six super-speciality clinicians from New Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital and Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital are part of these three teams. Another high level team, headed by P Ravindran, Director, Emergency Medical Relief at the health ministry and consisting of two other members each from Directorate of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme and National Centre for Disease Control, reached Uttarakhand on Wednesday to review health measures.

Another team of nine specialists for providing psycho-social support to victims are on their way to Uttrakhand from National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore.  

Based on the demand raised by the state government, the Centre has dispatched around three truckloads of essential medicines from its current stock. The official said, some fast track tenders have already been floated for additional procurement of various other medicines.

According to reports, at least 128 people reported high temperature and gastro-intestinal infections in Ramnagar — a tiny village near Guptkashi in Kedarnath valley — through Monday and Tuesday. Cases of diarrhoea in areas such as Alwalpur (Haridwar), Udvi (Uuttakashi) and Chandrapuri (Rudraprayag) have been brought to the notice of local medical support teams. The situation in Kedarnath continues to be worrisome as the water in the area is feared to have been contaminated.

While the Uttarakhand government has requested the Centre for supply of chlorine tablets, the health ministry is still in the process of procuring one million tablets.

However, the health ministry official maintained there is no reason to panic as “situation is under control as of now”. He added, “Medical camps set up by ITBP, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and armed forces are already helping victims”. The government also claimed to have managed cases of diarrhoea at “incipient stage” after picking up early warning signals.

Over 90,000 people from various villages and towns hit by the floods have been rescued so far. While landslides and floods have flattened entire towns, roads were washed away and communication links snapped, cutting off many people and necessitating air rescues.