Even as more than 150 teams were formed on Wednesday to assess the damages in Banaskantha, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel would be visiting the flood-affected taluka of Suigam with his team on Thursday, officials said.As on Wednesday, the fourth day of the region witnessing heavy rainfall, more than 13 villages in Suigam and on the northern part of Vav taluka are still submerged under water and cut off.“Due to the desert-like soil structure and absence of rivers in the area, seeping of water is taking time. The stagnant water is slowly receding. Water will recede only after natural seeping as there is also no place to shift the water. Though pumping of water is not a solution, still we have deployed more than 45 pumps that are working in Tharad town and Suigam taluka,” Banaskantha Collector Mihir Patel told The Indian Express.As per the state government records, a total of 34 villages in three talukas in Banaskantha and Patan districts have been affected by the floods. A team of 306 medical and paramedical staff of the health department has been deployed there. These teams have surveyed 1,24,379 people through door-to-door drives. These include over 1.19 lakh people in Banaskantha and 4,581 in Patan district.The health department has also distributed chlorine tablets and ORS packets in large quantities in Banaskantha and Patan. Also, vector-borne disease control programme work is being done to prevent typhoid fever, the collector added.“Door-to-door surveillance of fever cases and pest-control work has also been carried out in the affected talukas of Vav and Suigam. During the survey, further investigation into the epidemic is being carried out by taking blood samples at every place. Propaganda work has also been carried out to prevent epidemic spread,” he said.Even though no human casualty has been reported from Banaskantha, cattle deaths are expected. “Though we have deployed JCB machines for the removal of carcasses, the actual data will only be confirmed once water level recedes. More than 3,300 people were evacuated and relocated to safer places,” the Collector added.Story continues below this adAs on Wednesday, electricity supply to 70 villages is still cut off while the connection has been restored in 227 villages, authorities said.In Vav taluka, 77 blood samples were taken during the survey surveillance and disinfection of fever cases were carried out from house to house in the affected villages through 33 health teams.A total of 1,542 houses were visited and disinfection work was carried out in them; 26 places were found to have lice infection.Similarly, in Suigam taluka, 69 blood samples were taken during the survey by 29 teams in the affected villages. A total of 1,141 houses were visited and disinfection work was carried out, where presence of lice at 24 places was detected. To prevent the spread of the disease, publicity and dissemination work has been carried out. Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:ahmedabad