New Delhi: At least 128 people reported high temperature and gastro-intestinal infections in Ramnagar, a tiny village near Guptkashi in Kedarnath valley , on Monday and Tuesday. Three ITBP men engaged in rescue work in Kedarnath have also reported sick.
 
Contamination of water resources in the area due to hundreds of decaying bodies spread across the valley may be one of major reasons for the out break suspect authorities.

Although medical camps set up by ITBP, NDRF and armed forces are already helping victims with medicines, the Centre is sending a high-level team comprising doctors and specialists to Uttarakhand to review public health measures.

Though the situation is not being seen by the government as alarming as no outbreak of water/air borne or direct contact diseases has been reported so far, cases of diarrhoea in areas such as Alwalpur (Haridwar), Udvi (Uuttakashi) and Chandrapuri (Rudraprayag) have been brought to the notice of local medical support teams. The government, however, claims to have managed them at “incipient stage” after picking up early warning signals.

The situation in Kedarnath is worrisome. “In the past two days alone, 128 people have reported water-borne diseases from one small village in Guptkashi. It seems the water in the area has been contaminated,” an NDRF official told.

Most of the victims are local villagers who depend on natural springs for drinking water. “There are so many bodies across the Kedarnath valley that it is not surprising that their decay is causing contamination of water. It needs to be contained now or we could have a bigger problem at hand,” an ITBP official said.