Click to play videoNew Delhi: As the government battles the deluge, the real trouble is yet to begin - outbreak of diseases and with reports of Leptospirosis and Chickungunya breaking out, the centre is not taking chances.
Central monitoring teams have already been sent to the three states and a health advisory is being issued for Gujarat and Maharashtra.
"The states are making their preparations and we have sent technical and medical teams to help them in this kind of fear of outbreak of Leptospirosis and other flood related situations," says health secretary, PK Hota.
Leptospirosis is highly fatal and rats are the main carriers of the bacteria, which can affect rural or urban areas where there is a huge rat population. Southern Gujarat is with its history of plague is a high-risk area.
Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are gearing up to battle Chikugunya, a debilitating disease that causes limbs to stiffen.
The Aedes Egypti mosquito is the main carrier of the virus and breeds in clean stagnant water. Clean surroundings and clean drinking water are part of the government advisory.
But for the many remote villages of the flooded states cut off from the world, the advisories mean little.
"Government hasn’t told us anything about Chikugunya being a disease. The government should tell us if there’s an outbreak," says a villager from Hubli District.
Providing medical relief in flood-affected areas or for that matter after any natural calamity requires separate allocations in the budget.
But the health ministry has no such resources leaving the states to fend for themselves.
The health ministry is now demanding that disease outbreaks be treated as a natural calamity that can be included in disaster management plans because till that is done dealing with post disaster situations will at best be a knee jerk reaction.
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