As Assam’s flood situation gradually improves, health authorities have shifted their focus from rescue operations to preventing outbreaks of waterborne and vector-borne diseases in flood-affected districts. While floodwaters have started receding, nearly 6.55 lakh people remain affected, and the death toll from this year’s floods has risen to 66.
Union Minister Pabitra Margherita, who has been monitoring relief efforts in the affected areas, described disease prevention as the government’s biggest challenge after the floods. He said that heavy rainfall-triggered flash floods devastated several villages that were never considered flood-prone, increasing the risk of public health emergencies.
To reduce the chances of disease transmission, the government has supplied 10,000 kg of bleaching powder and 7,500 litres of phenyl to affected districts for large-scale sanitation and disinfection. Health department teams are working round the clock to monitor disease surveillance, disinfect contaminated areas and spread awareness about hygiene and safe drinking water.
Officials are particularly concerned about the potential rise in diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid, leptospirosis, skin infections, and mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue, which commonly emerge after floods due to contaminated water and stagnant pools.
Medical teams have also been deployed to isolated villages to provide treatment, essential medicines and health check-ups. Rescue personnel from the NDRF and SDRF have played a crucial role in transporting critically ill patients, pregnant women and newborns to healthcare facilities during the emergency.
With relief camps still sheltering thousands of displaced people, public health experts stress the importance of ensuring safe drinking water, sanitation, waste management, mosquito control, and continuous disease surveillance to prevent secondary health crises.
Although floodwaters are receding in many areas, authorities warn that the healthcare response will remain critical in the coming weeks as rehabilitation begins and vulnerable communities continue to face heightened risks of infectious diseases.
