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New Delhi,
IRNA -- The worst may not be over yet in the western state of
Gujarat. If the rescue operation takes too long, it may find diseases
spread by unsafe food and water and rotting bodies threatening
its recuperation bid. According to the `Statesman,' an English
daily published in New Delhi, rescue workers have been able to
extricate only about 6,000-odd bodies while the conservative death
toll hovers between 30,000 and 40,000.
"Contaminated
food and water and the decomposition of bodies still trapped under
the debris may cause an outbreak of diseases if not pulled out
fast," said K.K. Dutta, director of the National Institute
for Communicable Diseases (NICD), adding that "decomposition
will start attracting flies and animals."
While Datta
said that "a lot will depend on the authorities in the affected
areas," Secretary of Agriculture Bhaskar Barua, who is coordinating
rescue and relief operations in New Delhi, said fear of an outbreak
of diseases had already prompted the government to send a NICD
team to assess the situation and recommend precautions.
The 11.5 tons
of medical supplies despatched to Gujarat include 10 lakhs chlorine
tablets to check water-borne diseases. "We also anticipate
a shortage of wood needed for cremations and have diverted cargo
trains ferrying kerosene and coal to Bhuj, in Gujarat, so that
their cargo can be used for cremating the dead," Barua said.
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