
Number of lifeless chicken float about in the waters that are left of the flood in most of Kashmir villages. The smell is nauseating, but the households living there have bigger problems to tackle. There is no drinking water. No food for babies.
While relief operations have been largely focused on submerged neighbourhoods around the city centre, this cluster of hamlets behind an inundated railway station on the outskirts is yet to appear on any radar.
With the first signs of the outbreak of a communicable disease in the area, the health department has dispatched a team to assess the situation. Director Health Services Saleem-ur-Rehman said, “We will do everything to prevent an outbreak”. State Surveillance Officer Dr Rehaana said there are only mild cases of diarrhoea. “It isn’t cholera. But if the poultry birds are allowed to rot, it will be trouble,” she said.