While the seas have receded, leaving behind death and destruction, the rising concern now is the outbreak of diseases in the affected areas. Medical experts and social health activists have warned that the greatest fear is over the outbreak of cholera and typhoid, both, water-borne diseases.
When the waves crashed inland and receded, they left behind huge pools of stagnant water, often filled with dead bodies that are decomposing now. The tsunamis also caused sea water to enter village wells, thus destroying the normal source of drinking water for the villages. It is feared that the stagnant pools would be the source of water-borne diseases, causing an epidemic.
Relief work far from satisfactory
Acknowledging the government's serious concern at the possibility of an epidemic, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that the government was rushing potable water to the affected areas. 'The government is sending across 500 tonnes of food, water, clothing, and medicines, besides 150 tonnes of medical equipment,' he said.
The need for safe drinking water, to prevent an outbreak of cholera or typhoid, is paramount and Mukherjee said that some flights are being dedicated solely to the task of supplying drinking water to the people. The Indian Navy is carrying tonnes of drinking water to the affected coastal areas, especially in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where the Indian Air Force might not be able to reach.
The defence minister also added that the government has begun a massive inoculation drive to immunise the survivors. The inoculations will mainly be for cholera and typhoid. Among the medical equipment being supplied are syringes for the inoculations.
Mukherjee further said the other urgent task, besides providing water and medicines, is to dispose off the dead bodies. Most of the deaths occurred in the disaster or very soon thereafter, on Sunday, the morning of December 26. By now, these bodies would have been decomposed, especially since it is very warm in South India, and thus become the source of communicable diseases.
A doctor of social medicine at the All-Indian Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, while speaking on condition that he would not be identified, pointed out that the government has a well-planned out procedure to prevent the outbreak of diseases in the aftermath of any disaster.
"The problem is never that we don't know what to do, which we clearly do," she said, "The problem is one of distribution of the effort. We know that medicines have to be distributed. The task is making sure that people get the medicines, especially those in the far-flung villages or coastal areas with little access."
The doctor pointed out that after the 1993 Latur and the 2001 Gujarat earthquakes, doctors had fanned out with medicines to ensure that the survivors did not succumb to disease. "From those experiences, of which I must say I was not a part of but about which I have heard from some of my colleagues, we do know what is to be done. But the key is to doing them as quickly as possible," she added.
Army doctors in Tamil Nadu were the first to fan out on Sunday itself, helping the tsunami victims. Right then and there, the need was for painkillers and helping those patients who might have suffered fractures.
After the magnitude of the tragedy and the high death toll became clear, the priority now is providing drinking water and medicines to prevent the outbreak of any diseases, while disposing off the dead bodies.