The
fearful specter of disease now haunts Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the tsunami
disaster that devastated a large section of the island on December 26. Twelve
days after the worst natural disaster in the country’s history, the death toll
is staggeringly high at an estimated 30,000, with more decomposed bodies being
washed ashore in the flash floods following the tidal wave.
Tsunami,
the Japanese term for the earthquake movement that created shocking giant waves
that radiated in all directions forty kilometers from the northwestern tip off
the Indonesian island of Sumatra, measured 9.0 on the Richter scale. The quake
was caused by movements in the Eurasian and Australian tectonic plates resulting
in a thousand kilometers’ strip of seabed rising thirty meters, causing
shallow waves to form. But as the waves grew dramatically in size, those that
eventually struck Sumatra were more than ten meters high. Earthquake movement
and plate uplift create shock waves that can travel up to 500 km in deep water
and they retain their energy growing larger, causing a dramatic drop in sea
level.
The
December 26 quake moved 40 kilometers below the sea bed causing a massive
rupture of the sea bed. Though earthquakes are commonly associated with ground
shaking that occur as seismic waves traveling through the earth, in under sea
earthquakes the ocean floor is lifted up and dropped pushing the entire water
column up and down, which generates the tsunami.
The
tsunami struck the eastern, southern and western coasts of Sri Lanka on the
morning of December 26, with Sri Lanka taking the brunt of the shock waves along
the coast, killing large numbers and devastating whole towns. Many deaths on
Sunday are reported to have been caused by the short interval between the slow
first waves and the subsequent giant waves that struck a few minutes later, with
people running out to see what was causing the unnatural disturbance in the sea.
Tsunamis
batter the coast with tremendous amounts of energy. They can strip sand from
beaches, tear up trees and obliterate whole towns causing death and damage by
strong currents and debris.
Rising
Death Toll
In
Sri Lanka, numbers of deaths rise daily and the official figure now stands at
30,000, while some reports claim that the death toll in some areas in the north
and east controlled by the militant group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) could bring the numbers up to 40,000.
The
President has set up a national level committee to coordinate and streamline
relief operations and the Sri Lankan network of Non Governmental Organizations
is throwing its full weight in one of the biggest operations in history in the
aftermath of what is emerging to be an unprecedented national catastrophe.
Those
Left Behind
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Major
outbreaks of diseases may be accelerated by overcrowded refugee camps
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With
the flood waters receding and the rains stopping, the situation in overcrowded
makeshift refugee camps, temples, schools and community centers housing the
displaced is in imminent danger of being engulfed with disease and epidemic,
mainly those borne by water.
Diarrhoea,
hepatitis and typhoid have already hit some of these centers and the Ministry of
Health expects the number of casualties to rise and is trying its best to avert
a major outbreak of diseases.
“Most
of the wells in the north and east are polluted and over-run with sea water and
are unsuited for drinking. The sanitation infrastructure is destroyed and the
outbreak of water-borne diseases is imminent,” says Dr. K. Gnanakulam, head of
the hospital in Trincomalee on the northeast coast.
In
the south, the situation is no better and is exacerbated daily by hundreds of
bodies still floating in reservoirs and lime pits. Security forces are busy
burying bodies in makeshift graves in a frantic bid to save the lives of the
living from more disease. More bodies are being discovered daily in an unending,
agonizing search.
Local
medical personnel and those from several foreign countries are taking DNA
samples and copies of dental structures in a bid to identify the dead. In one
center they focused on children under five years of age.
Huge
Aid Efforts Underway
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Doctors,
paramedics and medical supplies are flowing into the country from the US, India,
Pakistan and several European countries
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Doctors,
paramedics and medical supplies are flowing into the country from the US, India,
Pakistan and several European countries. With the small domestic airports
clogged with aid flights, the scale of the aid effort has yet to reach the most
affected, says a senior official of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Reports
of outbreaks of diarrhea are already coming in and every effort is being made to
distribute rehydration salts and treatment for diarrhea, and to provide safe
water and sanitation to the displaced. Cholera, malaria and typhoid are seen as
the worst threats stalking the surviving, although dengue fever and respiratory
infections are also a grave concern.
Oxfam
in Sri Lanka, in its massive rehabilitation program costing 2.5 million sterling
pounds, is focusing on the provision of clean water and the construction of
toilets. In its integrated approach, sanitation, hygiene education, specific
needs for women and the dignity of those receiving assistance are prioritized.
Meanwhile,
a number of high profile Sri Lankan NGOs are setting up water purification and
water treatment systems while the National Water Supply and Drainage Board
(NWSDB) together with the Central Environment Authority (CEA) has taken
immediate steps to clean deep wells in the affected areas and purify other water
sources used mainly by remote rural communities. According to Sunil Perera,
Director of NWSDB, a program to restore pipe-borne water facilities and to
repair pipelines is already under way. The agency is also offering expertise on
chlorination of water as well as volunteer groups for cleaning of wells.
Ironically in normal times, villagers have separate wells for obtaining drinking
water and others for washing and bathing!
In
the current situation, drinking water is about the most precious commodity.
There is always some comic relief even during such agonizing times. Coca Cola,
always aggressively campaigning for their coke as the world’s best drink, is
now distributing drinking water in plastic bottles through a number of
collection centers run by UNICEF, the Red Cross, and several media institutions.
Last week, ninety thousand liters of drinking water in 1.5 liter plastic bottles
were distributed and another ninety thousand liters in the next two weeks has
been promised.
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The
transport network has been devastated
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While
the suffering is island-wide, remote communities in the north, especially
Tirukkovil and Pottuvil, have not received assistance as the transport network
has broken down and now has become much worse due to rains in these areas. Nine
thousand families accommodated in a settlement scheme do not have even basic
sanitation facilities, which is posing a danger to health. The water available
in these areas is polluted and even the rural hospital has no water, even to mix
the medicines.
Prioritizing
the provision of water to the affected people, a Disaster Response Assessment
Team (DART) from the United States is coordinating assistance plans and has
dispatched two flights to the country carrying plastic sheeting for tents to
house those displaced from their homes, and 10,000-liter water bladders (plastic
sacs of water), in addition to 4200 water containers. The team will also provide
assistance in long-term reconstruction and rehabilitation operations such as
road and bridge building.
These
are just a sample of the generous assistance pouring in from all parts of the
world, but problems are immense especially that of serving remote areas where
roads and bridges have been swept away and medical supplies and medical teams
cannot reach them, children who have lost parents, parents whose children are
missing and the need for succor and counseling for those who have survived. The
future is bleak for Sri Lanka with the dawn of 2005.
*Vijita
Fernando is a freelance Sri
Lankan journalist with more than 25 years of experience. She is a member of the
Sri Lankan Federation of University Women, Chairperson of the Centre for Family
Services, which works with women and children victimized in local conflicts, and
is a board member of a consortium of NGOs working in water and sanitation in
poor rural communities. Your emails will be forwarded to her by contacting the
editor at: ScienceTech@islam-online.net
