As water recedes, bodies show up

With the flood waters receding in Surat, a total of 25 bodies have been recovered so far and the extent of death and devastation will be known only after the water completely recedes, police said in Surat on Friday.

"A total of 25 bodies have been recovered so far in different parts of the city. Though water has receded from many parts of the city, two areas Rander and Adjan are still under the flood and we might get more bodies from there once the water recedes," Commissioner of Police Sudhir Sinha said.

These two areas in the vicinity of the river were the most affected where water level was more than 20 feet deep.

Meanwhile, chaotic scenes were witnessed in the city as people who stranded for the last four days came out of their houses in large numbers to get essential items like water, food, milk and medicine. But the demand far exceeds the supply.

The army has been carrying on rescue operations and is also dropping food and water packets to those stranded in buildings surrounded by waters. Kanshiram Rana, Parliamentarian from Surat, said: "The priority is to provide food and drinking water to the people and restore electric supply."

The biggest challenge now before the administration is to prevent outbreak of an epidemic as the drinking water is highly polluted, official sources said.