Disease hits quake survivors

Earthquake survivors wait for medical attention in an Indian Army field hospital in the town of Bhachau, India on Thursday     WEB EXCLUSIVE Nic Robertson: Counting the dead in Bhuj

Government says it has taken steps to prevent epidemics

In this story: 'They are throwing food at us' Relief planes flying in Vajpayee defends government RELATED STORIES, SITES

BHUJ, India -- With the rescue operation turning to a recovery effort six days after a catastrophic earthquake rocked western India's Gujurat state, relief officials worried about the possible outbreak of disease as survivors struggled in squalid conditions.

"If they don't get clean water, if they're living out in the open, it's inevitable you're going to see an upsurge in diarrheal disease and respiratory problems," said Patrick Fuller of the International Red Cross.

Government officials assured people, however, that they had taken measures to avoid epidemics -- and so far, there were no reported cases of typhoid or cholera.

"We have put fish (that feed on mosquito larvae) in lakes, done chemical spraying and are distributing chlorine tables," said the state's chief minister, Keshubhai Patel.

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Patel said he believed the final death toll from the 7.9 magnitude quake would be "about 30,000." Officials have confirmed more than 14,000 dead, but more bodies are believed trapped beneath the rubble of towns and cities like the coastal resort Bhuj, near the tremor's epicenter.

'They are throwing food at us'

The earthquake, which devastated the western state of Gujarat on Friday, has cut off power and water supplies in many places, making relief work even more difficult.

One woman who slept out in the open with other families in Bhuj, the town closest to the quake’s epicenter, said: "They are throwing food at us from trucks like we are dogs. We are freezing cold today and we don't know how our children will survive. If we stay here, we will die.”

In the village of Khavda, 60 km (37 miles) from the Pakistan border, Doctor Suraj Singh Kubray said he was seeing at least 50 cases of diarrhoea a day caused by contaminated water supplies.

"It's rising and it may rise to 100 in the coming days," he said. "The main water storage facility was damaged. They need fresh water immediately because infection can spread through contaminated water."

Kubray, working in a makeshift outdoor hospital littered with empty syringes, cotton wool swabs, and intravenous drips, said there could be an epidemic in the coming days.

The official death toll has hit 14,240, and a top official in the quake-hit region estimated the number could reach 35,000.

Relief planes flying in

Relief planes are flying into big cities including Bhuj and the commercial capital, Ahmedbad. But it is still taking a long time to get much-needed food and water to remote villages, or even to distribute it properly to people in towns.

Doctor Kubray said relief camps were being set up and mobile clinics were coming but "too few and too late."

"We know that under these kind of conditions if they don't get clean water, if they are living out on the open, it's inevitable that you are going to see an upsurge in diarrhoeal disease and respiratory problems," Red Cross official Patrick Fuller said.

"Children and the elderly are going to be the first to succumb," he added.

Despite the blazing sun of the afternoon and temperatures of below five degrees Centigrade overnight, many people were sleeping out on the street, too afraid of aftershocks to return to already damaged buildings.

Vajpayee defends government

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, fending off criticism of his government's handling of Friday's disaster and its aftermath, said aid was getting through.

Jayesh Thakkar, who was pulled from the earthquake rubble by a Russian rescue team on Wednesday, is treated in an Indian Army field hospital in the town of Bhachau, India on Thursday

"There was some lag in making arrangements and providing immediate relief, but that was made good in 24 hours," Vajpayee said in the southern city of Madras. "We are getting relief material from other states, from abroad, there is no dearth."

But even in Bhuj, survivors complained of bureaucratic bottlenecks in distributing food and tents.

"A lot of things are coming in but I don't know where they are going," Bhuj driver Madhobhai Maheshwari said.

Gujarat officials say the disaster will cost the state around 100 billion rupees ($2.16 billion). An influential business lobby, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), put the cost at 150 billion rupees.

About 20,000 Indian soldiers were working with relief teams from Britain, France, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey and elsewhere.

Planes brought generators, tents, tarpaulin sheets and mobile hospitals. The United States sent water purification equipment. India's nuclear rival Pakistan airlifted tents and blankets.

CNN Correspondent Kasra Naji, The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.

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U.S. pledges $5million in aid relief
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"Nothing between the earth and the sky"
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U.S. Geological Survey
UNICEF relief efforts
International Red Cross and Red Crescent

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