Epidemic fears in flood-hit Indian state

Swollen rivers receded further yesterday in the flood-hit Indian state of Orissa, but drinking wells in thousands of villages have been contaminated and doctors fear an epidemic of water-borne diseases.

Hundreds of villagers have been seeking medical attention as relief workers arrive to help more than 500,000 people still marooned in flooded areas of the poverty-stricken eastern state. In Bihar state, north of Orissa, rivers are rising and more than 70 villages north-west of Patna, the state capital, have been flooded, officials said, adding that more monsoon rain was forecast in the province.

In Orissa, floods triggered by monsoon rains have killed 45 people and affected more than seven million people in the last 10 days. Officials said they feared water-borne diseases may spread. "Up to 1,918 cases of diarrhoea and dysentery have been reported, said Madanmonhan Pradhan, a senior government doctor. "We are expecting an increase in the coming days." The state government has 53 medical teams operating in the flood-affected areas, Mr Pradhan said.

Karunakar Biswas, a government official, said the number of marooned people was decreasing. Relief teams had reached flooded villages to disinfect wells, officials said.

In the district of Jajpur in the state's eastern part, patches of land started reappearing from water levels fell in the tributaries of the state's two major rivers, the Mahanadi and Brahmani. In some places, people marooned on higher ground have been been forced to wade through waist-deep water to collect food supplies.

Much of last week's flooding was caused by water released from the Hirakud dam, more than 185 miles upstate. The dam was forced to open its sluice gates water after heavy rains in the catchment areas of the Mahanadi river in the neighbouring state of Chhattisgarh.