CHOLERA EPIDEMIC India tries to seal part of border

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32626, 7 June 1971, Page 11

CHOLERA EPIDEMIC India tries to seal part of border

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright)

KRISHNAGAR (India), June 6.

Security forces are sealing a stretch of the border between India and East Pakistan in an attempt to prevent cholera-stricken Pakistani refugees from entering the country.

The latest reports have raised more fears that Calcutta itself may be threatened by the disease, which is why the border is being closed at Sikarpur, in the Nadia district of the Indian state of West Bengal.

It is now clear that virulent Asiatic cholera is ravaging the area of East Pakistan directly across the border from Nadia, which is only about 60 miles north of Calcutta. Many of the tens of thousands of East Bengalis crossing daily have the disease, and the road between Krishnagar, Nadia’s main town, and Sikarpur, to the north, is littered with bodies of victims who died as they trekked in droves deeper into India.

Local authorities are trying to dispose of the corpses, either by burning or in mass burials.

It is impossible to say exactly how many lives the disease has claimed so far. The latest official figures put the number of dead in the Nadia district at 2700, but highlyinformed diplomatic sources in Calcutta say that 8000 have died in Nadia and other border districts of West Bengal; and Ministry of Health officials in New Delhi agree that the death toll in India alone may well be in excess of 8000. The toll in East Pakistan cannot be estimated. Refugees ‘pouring in’

The move to stem the flow at Sikarpur appears to be little more than a despairing gesture, for refugees are still pouring across at Phulbari, about 40 miles from Krishnagar. More than 10,000 crossed yesterday. Reports from Shillong say that more than 60 refugees in the Indian border terri-

; tory of Meghalaya have died . from gastro-enteritis in the . last week. More than 300,000 East Pakistanis have entered the backward and sparselypopulated Meghalaya, and the territorial authorities report an acute shortage of doctors and medical supplies. Calcutta vulnerable In Calcutta yesterday, the Indian Prime Minister (Mrs Gandhi) held crisis talks with West Bengal State Government on • the cholera epidemic, because of the danger to Calcutta.

The poorest and one of the most densely-populated cities in the world, Calcutta is peculiarly vulnerable. One million people live and sleep on its pavements, putting a mighty strain on the West Bengal capital’s water supply sewerage and drainage systems.

Slipping into city An estimated four million and a half refugees have crossed into West Bengal, and tens of thousands have arrived at the outskirts of Calcutta. They are being prevented ftom entering the city on the main roads, but many are slipping in by quieter small lanes and back

alleys. Mrs Gandhi, who is due to leave Calcutta today for Ahmedabad, told reporters yesterday: “It really is a grave and serious situation which may have serious consequences. I have come for consultations with the West Bengal Government so that we can work together to face this very big challenge.” Mrs Gandhi added that the international response to India’s appeals for aid for the refugees was not commensurate with the magnitude of the problem. British calls In Britain, the national press is united in demanding that Britain and the remainder of the world should act promptly to help to save the refugees in India. “The world has been slow

to recognise the magnitude of the disaster taking shape in West Bengal,” the "Sunday Telegraph” says. "An epidemic of cholera has now been superimposed upon a situation in which millions of refugees were already enduring conditions of extreme distress, and the conscience of the luckier nations is stirring at last. “It is no longer acceptable for a civilised government merely to allot a sum of money for aid, and then leave the work to the traditional relief agenices, admirable as they are.

“The time has come for the British Government to declare in powerful language this country’s determination to do all in her power to mitigate the disaster.” The “Observer” asks: “How much longer can Britain and the rest of the world continue to refuse to get the United Nations involved in the situation along the IndiaPakistan frontier?

“Four million refugees from East Bengal now face not only a pitiless monsoon but the ravages of cholera—and still their numbers grow

daily while the international relief effort hardly begins to meet their real needs.”