A Study to Assess the Health Impact of Sutlej Floods in District Ludhiana

Introduction: Disasters are never confined to any particular area, they can occur anywhere and at any time. Data collected since 1969 show a drastic increase in the number of people affected by them. More than 300 villages all over Punjab were affected by the flood in the Sutlej river in September 2019. Objective: To assess the health impact after floods in District Ludhiana Method: This is a cross-sectional project which was initiated by CMC & H with the help of Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana to cater to the flood-affected victims along the banks of river Sutlej covering a population of 4243 which included 10 villages. The whole population living along the river was screened and health services with preventive and curative measures, including health education were provided to the victims from 23rd August to 3rd September 2019. Cases were divided as per the post-emergency syndromic disease surveillance format of WHO. Results: A total of 4243 people were covered over a period of 12 days. It was found that almost 26% of the victims were suffering from skin diseases post-flood followed by fever (20%). More than 2000 chlorine tablets were also distributed. Conclusion: 33.5% of the population was impacted. It is recommended that the focus should be on disaster preparedness. Under 5 children were most commonly affected by fever and skin infections. Special signals like fog horns should be used and people should be made aware of such signals.