Step up efforts to prevent spread of infectious diseases says Santhi Kumari

Hyderabad: As the State gets relief from heavy rain on Friday, Chief Secretary A Santhi Kumari has directed the district collectors to take effective measures to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in the flood-affected areas. The heavy rain lashing the State for the past few days has started receding.

The Chief Secretary held a teleconference with the collectors on the relief and rehabilitation measures as well as pre-cautions to be taken in districts affected by heavy rain and floods.

She appreciated that so far, the loss of life and property has been reduced due to the collective efforts of the collectors, the police officers and the district administration in the flood-hit areas. Similar relief programmes would be carried out for another 24 hours.

As floods caused by the rain have receded, the collectors were told to carry out sanitation programmes vigorously to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in those areas. ‘Proper care should be taken in providing infrastructure, adequate food and fresh water to the victims in the already established relief camps.’

Of the ten NDRF teams, two are camping in Bhadrachalam and Nirmal, while one each has been placed in Kothagudem, Mulugu, Warangal, Khammam, Bhupalapalli and Hyderabad. The Chief Secretary made it clear that the government was ready to provide whatever assistance is needed for the rehabilitation programmes.

Director-General of Police Anjani Kumar said with the help of district administration, around 19,000 people have been shifted to safer places in many districts. He mentioned that special control rooms have been set up in several districts; senior police officers have been sent to monitor the situation.

Special Chief Secretary (irrigation) Rajat Kumar said the work of restoring breached tanks and ponds across the State is going on in full swing. The Disaster Management department secretary Rahul Bojja said although some districts received unprecedented rainfall in State’s history the damage was reduced with the joint efforts of the NDRF and the district machinery.