Cholera claims two more lives in Rayagada, death toll rises to 10

Cholera continues to spread its tentacles in the tribal hinterland of southern Rayagada district with the bacterial disease claiming two more lives on Wednesday. 

With the death of two women, one each from Hadiguda and Tikiri panchayats, the death toll due to the disease rose to 10.

Meanwhile, several others from both the panchayats have been undergoing treatment at different hospitals. Medical teams have been deployed in these areas to provide instant service to patients.  

Sources said that a few days back Rayagada district Collector, Sub-collector and local Block Development Officer had visited the villages and took stock of the situation.

Iswar Majhi, son of one of the deceased, said, “Yesterday when I returned home from duty my mother was okay. After 15 minutes, she complained of vomiting and nausea. Her voice was trembling. I rushed to the hospital and bought medicine for her. However, her condition deteriorated during the night. I rang 108 ambulance authorities in the early morning so that I could admit my mother to the hospital immediately. However, the authorities said no ambulance was available. By the time I reached home with an auto-rickshaw, my mother had died.”

On Tuesday, a four-member representative team of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by chief whip Mohan Majhi visited the cholera-hit Kashipur and took stock of the situation. Following its visit, the team accused the State government of hiding the actual number of deaths caused by cholera at Kashipur.