Post-Flood Health Alert: Experts Urge Caution With Water, Food Safety

Srinagar- In the aftermath of recent floods that struck several areas of Jammu and Kashmir, health experts have urged people to exercise extreme caution while using food and water supplies. They said contaminated sources pose a grave risk of water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and hepatitis A and E.

Officials said the foremost priority should be access to safe water. They stressed that only clean water should be used for drinking, cooking, and brushing teeth.

Sealed and packaged bottled water from a reliable source is the safest option, they added.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Anantnag, Dr Khalid Parvez said that in the absence of bottled water, residents should boil water for at least 10 minutes before use, and chlorine tablets or household-grade unscented liquid bleach can be used for disinfection by following recommended instructions.

“If water appears muddy or turbid, it should first be filtered through a clean cloth before boiling or treating,” he said, adding that to avoid recontamination, safe water should be stored in clean, covered containers.

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