1,14,000 cases reported in 13 flood-hit districts
Tariq Saeed Peshawar
Though the flood water has started receding in parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after causing devastation in many districts with Malakand division being the hard hit and leading to four more deaths on Friday, now the outbreak of waterborne diseases have started ringing the alarm bells as the Health department has reported more than 1,14,000 cases among the flood affectees.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Friday reported an outbreak of waterborne diseases in areas hit by the devastating flooding. Waterborne diseases have started spreading as the cases of diarrhea, rash, chest and respiratory diseases among the residents of the flood- affected areas of the province are on the rise.
According to health officials, medical camps have been established in the flood-stricken districts where 1,14,661 cases have been reported so far, while more than 10,000 patients have been treated in the province in the last 24 hours. A total 137 medical camps have been established in 13 flood-hit districts to counter the waterborne diseases.
While more than 260 people were eaten up by the recent floods in various parts of the province, the calamity has also rendered over six hundred thousand people homeless. Only on Friday four more deaths were reported in floods in different parts of the province. Besides colossal losses of the livestock 34 thousand houses and other structures and scores of bridges were destroyed.
Over 50 posh hotels in scenic valley Kalam and Bahrain were totally destroyed thus causing irreparable loss to the tourism industry. Lacs of acres of agriculture land and standing crops were also washed away by the angry waters that is feared to lead to acute scarcity of food in the province.
According to recent reports the gushing waters rendered more than 1.2 billion rupees losses to the irrigation channels in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where 178 projects were destroyed and 10 structures worth Rs 68 million were destroyed in merged areas (formerly FATA).
