The scope of this programme will be further expanded to reach out to the maximum possible number of children and women at risk. The situation in the relief camps is extremely grim. Crisis for food, water and medical care continues. The Government has started a scheme to provide minimal food rations - which are far from adequate. There are no programmes to meet the special needs of infants and children.
Torrential rains continue to add to the miseries of the affected people.
There is urgent need to step up relief intervention to enable the population to survive. There are strong undercurrents of tension and the environment is volatile. Defense and security forces have kept the law and order situation under control, until they were withdrawn recently. Their absence may have aggravated the tension which resulted in increased violence. The security force's presence is expected to prevent further acts of mutual aggression and also motivate the people to return to their homestead within a few months, but it will not solve the basic problems.