People are starting to fear for their health in India as corpses begin to decay and contaminate water sources following the devastating floods which is now two weeks old. Some of the victims have reported suffering from diarrhea. Officials fear an outbreak of pandemic diseases such as cholera and dysentery could erupt anytime.

"We are getting reports from the field (in Rudraprayag, one of the worst affected districts) that there are rotting bodies lying around, many of them semi-buried in soil and rubble that came down from the mountains," Zubin Zaman, humanitarian manager for Oxfam India, was quoted by Reuters.

The air in India has started to smell bad.

"Under no circumstances can we allow an outbreak of an epidemic," KN Pandey, a senior disaster management official, told AFP.

"We have reports that many stranded people are suffering from diarrhea and other ailments and have decided to cremate the corpses near the Kedarnath shrine," he said.

Authorities said the death toll from the killer floods could hit 1,000, even more. To date, some 822 people in Uttarakhand have died and tens of thousands still missing, forced from their homes when the floods lashed at their houses.

"There are also carcasses of livestock in rivers and streams and this has, of course, contaminated so many of their water sources. But people are desperate and are being forced to consume water they wouldn't otherwise," Mr Zaman said.

About 400 people have been admitted to a medical camp in Sonprayag.

The government has started to deploy choppers lifting firewood and fuel to start the necessary mass cremation of the dead.

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