Ambala:
As floodwaters slowly recede in Haryana and Punjab, more than 100 villages are still marooned.
Among the stranded villagers is Darshan Lal whose home in Nagaal is inundated. Lal has been desperate to take his ailing son to the hospital for three days but it was not until today.
He could find a relief boat to reach the Army medical camp.
"There was no way to get medical assistance. There was no to take my son to the doctor," he said.
Even the road connecting 20 villages is completely submerged and a boat is the only way villagers can come over to the other side. Most of them want to come for want of medical aid.
"I couldn't stand properly. My legs were aching. I was running a fever. Now I have taken medicines," said a villager Gurnam Singh.
Rain has cost Haryana a loss of at least Rs 650 crore; crops worth Rs 400 crore have been damaged. The estimated damage to the roads is Rs 205 crore and the irrgation network has also been damaged. The loss could be about Rs 50 crore.
"Medical aid is difficult within these villages and it gets further compounded by the current situation we are in. This is the primary reason we came in with a medical team. And subsequently two full medical teams have been built up here," said Colonel Atul Suri.
This preparation of the relief teams is also in view of the fact that the receding floods will leave behind water-borne diseases and many more people will need medical attention.