Click the link below to see the report:
Report on Ritinjali Relief work in Leh
UPDATES:
6th September 2010
The last two to three days has seen a decrease in the number of patients coming to the camp. On an average around 20 to 25 patients are visiting the OPD out of which only 10 o 15 are locals. Today only 7 local patients out of 15 total cases.
Mrs Gulnaz the Pharmacist, tells me that this is the average number of patients who come to her sub center in Kuzey, a nearby village, even before this disaster occured. Both the staff here are of the opinion that the camp can be handled by them for the next 1 or two weeks as the patient load is not much and i feel the same, looking at the number, and profile of patients coming here. The medicines too are more than sufficient as of now.
Unlike previous doctors before me i did not visit any far of villages, i was here in Choglamsar throughout attending the OPD.
According to me if in the future any doctors are planning to come, it would be more productive if a larger area is covered, and there are more field trips, because the acute epidemic stage of disease is over and only routine cases are coming now, so some sort of specific/specialist screening programme or something similar would be more useful than just the choglamsar health camp.
This camp will be functional hopefully for the next two weeks, and as suggested by Mrs Angmo an application was sent on her behalf to the CMO and DC regarding making this camp permanent, most probably in another location nearby. Though the process is very tedious and may take a long time, Mrs Gulnaz would be able to give us feedback about how this pans out.
Other than that i think the situation here is almost back to normal. People are getting on with their lives. The army, Volunteers from various organizations and the locals themselves, need to be applauded for their tremendous efforts.
It is my last evening here in Leh, and siting in this internet cafe, i feel a mixed bag of emotions. I was sad to see such a spectacular and wonderful place suffer at the hands of Nature's fury, but its heartening to see it coming back up on its feet.
I am also happy to have played a small part in this relief mission, and it gave me immense satisfaction.
Sir, i would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity and also to Dr Biplav for introducing me to it.
I have no words to describe how gracious Mrs Angmo and her staff at hotel Lingzi were to me, and i cant thank them enough for their hospitality.
Mrs Gulnaz and Mrs Sakina kept everybody entertained and made sure there was never a dull moment in the OPD.
1st September 2010
This is Dr Mridul Dhar , Biplav's colleague, with updates from the Ritinjali Health camp, Leh.
I arrived here yesterday morning, and as advised by everyone, slept the whole day to acclimatize.
We left early for the health camp in the morning. Mrs Angmo was kind enough to accompany me, to introduce me to the staff and help me get familiar with the functioning of the camp. On the way to the camp I was told that the roads are much better now as all the rubble is gradually being cleared.
Unlike the past few days there were more number of patients today, around 50, probably because many of them included volunteers from Punjab who are constructing a community center right behind our health camp, to help out the displaced victims.
Most of the patients included ones with upper respiratory tract infections and a hand full of Diarrhea patients, a report of which was sent to the CMO office at the end of the day.
The BMO too paid a visit to the camp with the intention of shifting it to the nearby Solar Colony. Madam Angmo made a few calls to the DC , and for now the camp will be functioning from its current location. She has plans to make this camp a permanent setup and one more doctor will be arriving next week.
One last point i wanted to mention , the medicines seem to be adequate as of now barring a few, namely...
. Vitamin Bcomplex tabs
. Iron Tablets
. ORS packets
. Spasmid Tablets.
All in all it was a very exciting first day, looking forward to tomorrow.
31st August 2010
Update received from Dr. Avinash Varma…
I am giving this brief report of my activities and experience of the flood affected areas of Leh, Ladakh. I was accompanied by Dr. Nadeem Akhtar, also from Fortis Escorts, on this trip. We also took few cartons of medicine provided by Fortis Escort along with us.
We landed at Leh airport on 22-08-2010 at 9 am morning. We were advised to rest for at least 1 day for proper acclimatization. On our way to Hotel Lingzi we for the first time witnessed the destruction caused by flash flood in the Leh main city. We gazed in disbelief as our ever so dependable world of steel and concrete was lying in shreds in front of our eyes. Many multistoried buildings had collapsed killing those living in them, and everything was covered in mud. Still in horror we reached the hotel and as advised we went straight to our rooms for rest. In the evening we met Madam Angmo, and Dr. Varun, who briefed us on the flood situation, relief and rescue efforts and current state of affairs as they were seeing it. Dr Varun told us about the patient profile in Tasigatsar camp in Chouglamsar area where he had been seeing patients. The same night some patients from the Leh main city area came to our hotel. We saw them and also gave them medicines we had brought with us -- all of this in candle light as there's no electricity in Leh post-floods, only few hours of diesel genset electricity at night. One patient, Mr. Gulam Ali, a musician in the now destroyed All India Radio, Leh, told us how his two storied hotel was destroyed with tourists still inside and how he managed to save all of them along with his family by going up on the high mountains and spending whole night under open sky in freezing cold. His heroics saved them from being washed away in flood but they were under serious risk of hypothermia.
On 23rd and 24th we went to Tasigatsar Medical camp and Himank Medical camp to see the patients in the affected areas. There we saw what used to be a bustling market and lively place Chouglamsar. The whole place was covered by 6 feet high mud and stone blanket. Whatever came in way of the flow was washed away to river Indus. There was no road to begin with, the Manali Leh highway was dug up from under the mud and rubble and a temporary bridge was constructed as old one had vanished without a trace. We saw a bus pulverized by the flowing debris and smashed upon the shops on one side of the road. There were also couple of cars in the river Indus!
The medical Aid camps were setup post-flood by Ritanjali and District administration collaboration. Fortis Escorts Heart Institute provided them with doctors and medicines. Tasigatsar was near ground zero, we saw around 50 patients per day. They were a mix of acute gastro-enteritis, musculoskeletal pain/inflammation due to direct trauma or over-exertion, few wound dressings, stress related acid peptic disorders and some psychological stress cases. This particular camp has been distributing chlorine tablets to all those who came and hence diarrhea / dysentery was less prevalent than what it would have been otherwise. Tasigatsar is one of the two areas out of 14 which came positive for effective chlorination! The medicines provided by the government were insufficient to say the least. Our medicines from Delhi proved to be of great help, particularly antibiotics, antacids, and anti-inflammatory drugs.
We also went to the Himank camp, setup by army and providing shelter to 100s of families. This was the camp which Prime Minister and every other dignitary had come to visit. What we saw were about 50 camps in which about 2-3 families lived per camp. And as expected skin and respiratory tract infections were common in the area. So much of overcrowding is an open invitation to all communicable diseases. Children are a particularly vulnerable lot, with kids as small as 1 yr getting the same skin infections as their elder siblings; it's clearly not a good sign. They needed more tents, topical antibiotics, and patient education regarding, hygiene and disease prevention in disaster setting. We also saw few ANC cases. We were the only physicians in both the areas, as the government had made no provision for a doctor here. There was a medical officer who was supposed to pay visit to the camps to see patients but it was more of a face saving measure rather than a public health initiative.
On 25th and 26th we went on a mobile medical camp to West of Leh towards Kargil. Members of Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) with their truck full of relief material and Medicines sent by His Holiness Karmapa were with us. Our first stop was Khalsi 100 Kms from Leh in the inhospitable mountains. The Flash Flood was not limited to Leh and trail of devastation could be seen throughout the route to Khalsi. Small villages like Nimo and Saskpol were affected in a similar way. In the Khalsi Sub district hospital we saw some patients and distributed medicines. There were also some cardiac patients with rheumatic heart disease and Valvular defects. Patients in Atrial Fibrillation who need to be anticoagulated cannot be done as there is no facility to monitor PT/INR and patients had to go to Leh 100Kms away to get a test done! Also many patients had uncontrolled hypertension. Patients were much less motivated and involved in their treatment, and government supply only had amlodepin. We along with SDM also went to villages of Tia and Temiz, half hour drive from Khalsi.. The same story of destruction was also repeated here. The next day we went to Skurbuchand a village 50 Kms from Khalsi. We went to a community health center in Skurbuchand and saw about 70 - 80 patients there. There were many elderly patients with pneumonia and musculoskeletal pain. Osteoarthritis and untreated hypertension were also quite prevalent. We also distributed relief material like blankets, utensils, rice, and warm clothing to the affected people there, some of which still lived under open sky as they have not received tents from the government.
On 27th we went to Tigu village on the Eastern side of Leh, around 60 Kms from there. The destruction was as severe as in Chouglamsar. We went with LBA and two trucks full of relief material. We went to Medical Aid center (Kind of a PHC) of Tigu and saw about 60 patients there. In this center, I was told by pharmacist (the only medical staff there); that the doctor comes only once in a month! Moreover there were no medicines in the supply. It's a big village with 100s of families with similar patient profile, however respiratory tract infections and eye infections /conjunctivitis was more common here. We gave whatever medicines were left with us to the centre and then distributed all the relief material to the people.
In these 5 days we have seen the worst suffering, ruthless destruction, but also glimmer of hope that inspite of a large, cumbersome, and ineffective aid delivery machinery of the government, the resilient spirit of people and selfless service by humanitarian organizations is makings things move in right direction. It's a mixed bag of feelings at a personal level, being overwhelmed by the scale and ferocity of the calamity, numbed by the grief and misery all around and feeling a sense of compassion and satisfaction that we could be of little help in alleviating pain and anguish of people-- all at the same time. Although the acute phase is nearly over, but with no livelihood, no shelter, and a harsh winter approaching, these people have a lot at stake and a small thread to hang by.
19th August
Update received from Dr. Varun Sreenivasan…
Received the relief material and medicines today..in all 127 packets of relief material and 10 packets of medicines..got all the necessary antibiotics and antihistamines..the medical camp is now very well equipped..Ms. Angmo mentioned that relief material is more than enough for now..besides that the situation has almost come to normal in terms of the prevalence of disease..have mainly the usual complaints such as fever etc..potable water continues to be a problem despite the distribution of chlorine tablets and instructions to use water from the tankers only..the people continue to use water from the hand pump from which the sample was taken and later turned out to be not fit for consumption..have requested for the hand pump to be sealed..will see how it pans out.. that's it for now..till tomorrow.. Varun
18th August 2010
- The 3rd consignment of 127 cartons of relief material was sent today to Leh, it contained clothes, quilts, shawls, shoes, blankets, steel utensils, biscuits, maggie noodles, water purifying tablets and medicines..Thank you for your continued support…
17th August 2010
-
Following received from Dr.Varun at Leh....
Hi Sir... This is Varun from Leh..started on 2nd Day in the medical camp with the of 50 Kgs of Rice here at the flood relief centre...procured some more medicines from the CMO's office. ...more and more patients turning up...especially diarrhea...having a regular footfall of about 40-45...updated in details to biplav...thats it for now...
15th August
Very eventful day!!we drove 150 km , visited 4 villages, i did some mountain climbing and the relief material was distributed , almost all of it.
It was an early start as we left the hotel at 9 in the morning and began a 90 minute journey to village ney. It lies 55 km from leh city in the direction of Srinagar. Very rough drive And when we were about a km away from ney, we ran into a bus which was stuck in the mud. That took about an hr(and i resorted to some mountain climbing to get over the monotony). At long last we got the green signal and reached ney. Severely affected, a village of just 16 families , it accounted for 6 deaths and a missing person. After distributing the relief materials we headed back as it had started drizzling and the villagers were anxious to get back inside.
We reached taro, about 30 km outside leh city, where we were greeted by almost the entire village. They served us tea and some delectable cakes. Having done the deed for taro, we headed back(i almost got left behind and had to make a run for it much to the amusement of the villagers!!).
From there we reached phiyang , which is famous for its monastery and a senior rinpoche had come to grace the village with his divine presence and give his blessings to one and all. After the departure of the rinpoche, we got on with our work and distributed quite a number of cartons to the village incharge(mr. nambardar) as the village has a sizeable population.
Our last stop was a village quite close to the airport called stopuk(?? Spelling to be confirmed). We were overjoyed to see a bunch of kids who came running towards us and decided to take a detour and hug the cars. Realizing that the steel was hot, they recoiled almost at once. As always , they loved the camera and several gave very enchanting poses as well. After distributing relief material here, we headed back to the hotel. After dropping mrs angmo off at the hotel, i started for choglamsar and the health camp . dr varun had to be picked up and it didn't make sense sending out another taxi for him when the meter on this one was already running.
Upon reaching the camp, i met with varun, mrs. Saquina bano and mrs. Gulnaz tabassum, the pharmacist. They all seemed pretty comfortable working with each other and had seen 49 cases since morning. Dr varun has also made a list of all the medicines presently at the camp and would also be receiving the medicines due Monday.
The medical officer paid a visit to the health camp and seemed to be satisfied with the way things have been organized. Of course, the local residents never mmiss an opportunity to tell us how thankful they are for this ‘at our doorstep' health facility.
This is my last evening in leh. The past six days have been very interesting and very exciting and a little tiring at the same time. I have loved being here and cannot thank ritinjali enough for this opportunity. And i don't just mean that as part of social courtesy because this has been the single most important learning experience for me personally. I would also like to thank all the friends i have made who have been with us, with me. I would especially like to thank mr tashi and lamaji from dharamsala, the LBA president and youth president, the cmo,leh-ladhak. Mrs. Gulnaz tabassum for the spirit and enthusiasm with which she has worked with us.
Also the staff at hotel lingzi esp mr thakur and rupesh were fantastic . lastly a big thank you to mrs. Spalzes angmo for not only being a gracious host and guide of sorts, but also for looking out for us and making us feel at home at 12000 ft.
It was wonderful.
yours from leh
biplav
ps – the details regarding the distribution were noted down by a member of the LBA and he will be handing over a signed copy to dr varun with allthe details.the remaining stuff will be distributed tomorrow and the details will be made available by dr varun.
Ps2 – did i mention the 500+ photographs that have been shot over the last 6 days??oops!!
See you tomorrow
14th August
Dr.Sreenivasan reached Leh this morning to relieve Biplav.50 cartons relief material received at Leh. Ritinjali medical camp going full swing. Fortis confirms availability of Doctors&medicines for Leh. Coordination on with Ms.Angmo & Dr. Biplav for requirement of more doctors. Utensils required urgently at Leh– plates, glasses, spoons, serving bowls, cooking utensils.
13th August
From : Atul Raheja [atulraheja@lifelongindia.com]
Had asked a manufacturer he ticked the ones below and is arranging to send , if the is something banned or otherwise incorrect some of our Dr friends will have to help
From : Swapan Seth <swapan@equusads.com>
To : Atul Raheja; Arun Kapur <arunkapur@vsnl.com>
Cc : Amit Judge <amit@tmfoundation.in>; Gogi <studioleadlight@gmail.com>; Sanchita <aakardel@gmail.com>; Jatender Mehta <jkm@omaxauto.com>; DipikaNanjappa <dipikagogo@hotmail.com>; Ashish Alex <ashish.alex@gmail.com>; Naveen Frazer Pabla <ninupabla@yahoo.com>; A P John <apjohn@vasantvalley.org>; Satish Somanathan <satish@vasantvalley.org>; Sanjay Bisht <sbisht@vasantvalley.org>; Rekha Bakshi <rbakshi@vasantvalley.org>; Rekha Krishnan <rkrishnan@vasantvalley.org>; Poonam Malhotra <poonam.dev@gmail.com>; Poonam Mutreja <pmuttreja@macfound.org.in>; Dilip Cherian <dilipcherian@perfectrelations.com>; Dilreen Kaur <dilreen@gmail.com>; Bobbyb <bobby@perfectrelations.com>
Sent : Fri Aug 13 10:44:37 2010
Subject : Re: update
Pls double check
I think cetrizine may be a banned drug
Sent on my BlackBerry® from Hutch
From: Atul Raheja <atulraheja@lifelongindia.com>
Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2010 05:00:59 +0000
To: arunkapur@vsnl.com<arunkapur@vsnl.com>; Swapan Seth<swapan@equusads.com>
Cc: Amit Judge<amit@tmfoundation.in>; Gogi<studioleadlight@gmail.com>; Sanchita<aakardel@gmail.com>; Jatender Mehta<jkm@omaxauto.com>; DipikaNanjappa<dipikagogo@hotmail.com>; Ashish Alex<ashish.alex@gmail.com>; Naveen Frazer Pabla<ninupabla@yahoo.com>; A P John<apjohn@vasantvalley.org>; Satish Somanathan<satish@vasantvalley.org>; Sanjay Bisht<sbisht@vasantvalley.org>; Rekha Bakshi<rbakshi@vasantvalley.org>; Rekha Krishnan<rkrishnan@vasantvalley.org>; Poonam Malhotra<poonam.dev@gmail.com>; Poonam Mutreja<pmuttreja@macfound.org.in>; Dilip Cherian<dilipcherian@perfectrelations.com>; Dilreen Kaur<dilreen@gmail.com>; Bobbyb<bobby@perfectrelations.com>
Subject: Re: update
I am arranging the following from the list
4. tab cetrizine 5mg - 5000
5. tab diclofenac sodium 50 mg - 5000
6.tab loperamide 2mg - 100
7.tab domstal - 2500
SMS
- Cargo recieved today is frm dharamsala..ritinjali cargo of 54 bags expected tomorrow..the dharamsala delegation is also staying at hotel lingzi with us and wud we wud b gng together fr the distribution of the rwlief materia
--
Gud morning sir..just an after thought..now thay varum has confirmed till next sunday..we may nt neded another volunteer fr the time being..also we just recieved 54bags by cargo..details being sorted out..lemme get back to u regarding that..
l
12 th August
On 12/08/10 8:14 PM, "Arun Kapur" < arunkapur@vsnl.com > wrote:
True - but now we need another doctor and someone to help - any ideas -
SMS
11th August 2010
UPDATE from Leh by Dr Biplav Agarwal
Requirement
SMS:
From Mr. Kapur:
- Total- about Rs. 4,38,100/-
about 50,000/- is on the way.
-They are helping out wid the staff n some medicines..hence co sponsored!!im trying to get the supplies distributed in the two camps we visited so we hav a tab on the numbers!!
-I thnk i will discuss with the cmo once as to what medicines are used in ths region apart from tje isual ones and what sort of a population we are planning to cater to at yhe camp..my estimate os arnd 2500..can we wait rill tomo morning before fonalising the list..
From Naveen & Ashish-
Packed all the material into sags and some cartons with the help of our second chance children.About 24 sags and 26 box with clear markings of ladies, gents and kids clothes, shoes & blankets. And food material about 3150 Kg. Will meet Dr. Motuk tomorrow for dispatch.
Cmo leh ladhak..she was the one who accompanied the health commissioner yesterday n seem to be incharge
Sir v wud need a list of medicine from dr.biplav as a pharamceutical company owner from singapore has agreed to sponsor al the medicines.
2000 mask given to WWF people for Leh.
Email From Naveen Pabla to Mr. Kapur
From: Naveen Pabla <naveenpabla@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:32:21 +0530
To: <arunkapur@vsnl.com>
Subject: Leh Help latest update
Hello Sir,
As discussed with Mr. Gurpreet Singh & Mr. Atul Bakshi, we have decided to pack all the relief stuff gathered so far by today evening, and will dispatch it tomorrow so the material reaches Leh as soon as possible.
So I had call Dr. Motuk and told him about the relief material we want to send so that he can arrange it to be airlifted from Delhi.
He asked me to write a letter to The Principal Resident Commissioner of Jammu & Kashmir (J & K House, 5, Prithviraj Road, New Delhi - 110 003) with the list of relief material we want to send for victims of Flash Floods in Leh through Ladahk Budhist Association.
So we are in the process of segregating and packing of all the material received so far.
And will prepare a list accordingly.
Mr. Gurpreet & Mr. Atul Bakshi will join at Pyramid about 5 Pm.
will let you know by the evening.
Regards,
Naveen Pabla
9891117884
EMail From Rahul Sharma to Arun Kapur
Hi Arun,
I got a call from David requesting approx 5000 face masks asap.
Can we buy these and send across ??
From: Arun Kapur
Sent: 11 August 2010 11:22
To: 'Ravi Singh'
Cc: naresh kapila; Sunitha Jaykumar
Subject: RE: Ladakh
Dear Ravi,
This is to confirm that the 2000 surgical masks will be available at the Ritinjali collection centre in Vasant Kunj by this afternoon. Please coordinate with Naveen Pabla at 9891117884.
Waiting to get a list of handy tools to empower the communities to rehabilitate themselves.
Warm regards,
Arun
Email Rom Ravi Singh
From: Ravi Singh [mailto:RaviSingh@wwfindia.net]
Sent: 11 August 2010 09:46
To: Arun Kapur
Cc: naresh kapila; Sunitha Jaykumar
Subject: Ladakh
Dear Arun,
My team in Leh is working to coordinate both relief and rehabilitation with the local authorities. We require 2000 surgical masks as there is chance of an epidemic in the effected areas.
By this evening we will also have a list of items such as handy tools to empower the communities to rehabilitate themselves. If these can be arranged it will be tremendous help.
We will arrange the air lifting from Delhi.
Thank you,
Ravi Singh
10th August 2010
This SMS from Dr. Biplav Agarwal
1. Dr. Biplav Aggarwal from Leh- Very fine Sir...doing a round of the hospitals..both gh and snm..will be sending u the detail shortly...
2. Leaving from choglamsar today..outgoings calls are not connecting and there is no wifi in the hotel..will be sending yu yesterday's details from internet cafe sometime in the afternoon...
Minutes of the Ritinjali Volunteers Meeting held on Monday, 9 th August, 2010, to discuss steps on sending emergency relief for victims of flash floods in Leh.
Mr. Kapur explained that as an immediate reaction, we need to garner all our resources and collect as much relief material as possible to be sent to Leh. Ritinjali should also look beyond the immediate and also address the Relief and Rehabilitation requirements at a later stage.
Ms. Spalzes Angmo (Mob: 9958687999), Buddhist Member, National Minorities commission who is based in Leh addressed the volunteers and explained the situation at ground there.
The urgent need there is for items like blankets, shoes, clothes & sweaters for children, men and women. She said that these goods could be sent to the J & K House in Delhi and her husband who is in the Government will ensure that the supplies are airlifted to Leh.
The volunteers expressed their concern about proper distribution of material when the material would arrive in Leh. Ms. Angmo said that she is coordinating with the Ladakh Buddhist Association which has members in every district and mohallahs. So the distribution mechanism being local could would be very effectively able to distribute the material there.
Mr. Atul Bakshi suggested that we make one comprehensive package each for a family so that the distribution could then become easy.
Mr. Gurpreet Singh agreed to allow Ritinjali to use the Pyramid at Vasant Kunj for collection and packing of material. Ashish Alex and Naveen Pabla would be in charge of this venue. Mr. Gurpreet Singh andMr. Atul Rajeha will be in charge of packaging of the material.
Mr. Atul Raheja agreed to coordinate with companies manufacturing blankets so that it could be procured at concessional rates and also to get sweaters from Ludhiana.
Another idea was to ask students of VVS to donate at least one pair of old shoes and a cardigan each. We could also request other schools that we know to do the same. The cardigans and shoes need to be clean and have their sizes mentioned.
Mr. Swapan Seth will be in charge of communications and he will send the mailers to all concerned.
Dr. Biplav Agarwal (Mob: 98100 91898), a Ritinjali Volunteer will be travelling to Leh on behalf of Ritinjali, on Tuesday, 10 th August, along with Ms. Spalzes Angmo to help with first aid and relief in Leh. He will take along with him water purification tables and crocin. He & Ms. Spalzes will keep sending us an updating us on the status of distribution as well as requirements after assessing the real need and Ritinjali could then send in further supplies.
Ms. Spalzes Angmo has a hotel which is centrally located in Leh and she has offered to accommodate anyone who would like to travel to Leh for relief work.
Mr. Rahul Sharma has volunteered to travel to Leh as and when required.
List of Ritinjali Volunteers that attended the meeting on 9th Aug, 2010
