About 3,000 people have been affected by cholera, gastroenteritis and dysentry in the rain-ravaged Indian state of Maharashtra, but there have been no signs of an epidemic yet, Reuters quoted an official as saying on Friday. Residents of Bombay, where scores died in the flooding brought by the heaviest monsoon rains in decades, were advised to boil water, take chlorine tablets and test drinking water supplies for any contamination. "There is no evidence of an epidemic. We are taking every step to ensure there is no (large) outbreak of disease," state relief director Suresh Kakine told Reuters. He said nearly 700 medical teams had spread themselves across Maharashtra, one of India's largest states, where thousands remain displaced from their homes. Nearly 40 people were down with jaundice in the flood-hit parts of the state. The floods killed nearly 1,000 people across the state and are estimated to have caused losses running into billions of dollars, including in Bombay, the country's commercial capital. Although the rains have eased, officials said hundreds of people have been evacuated to higher ground for fear of landslides. "We have moved 150,000 people to safer places to protect their lives from possible flooding or landslides," Kakine said, adding that water levels in some rivers in the state's southern districts were still dangerously high. --mor 1500 Local Time 1200 GMT
