Cuttack: A day after the diagnosis of 17 jaundice patients in the Millennium city, the district administration on Saturday opened a 24-hour health camp in Jobra area to provide free treatment to the patients.
Reports said senior BJD leader and Choudwar-Cuttack MLA Pravat Biswal visited the affected areas of Jobra on Saturday.
Talking to OTV, Biswal said last year the disease had spread from Jobra area and the district administration had taken adequate precaution to prevent its further spread.
Asked about the cause for the spread of the disease, he said some people of the area have obtained genuine drinking water connection while some others have taken unauthorised connection.
“Some of the water pipes connected to their houses have been laid under the drain. It is most likely that there might be ruptures in these pipes somewhere inside the drain as a result of which the water has become contaminated after coming in contact with the drain water,” he pointed out.
He said last year the government had taken a special drive by replacing the old water pipelines with new ones which will be laid above the drain to avoid water contamination.
“Though the Public Health department had replaced the old pipelines last year, there are still some water pipes under the drain which will be detected and replaced with immediate effect. We have requested the residents, who have taken unauthorised connection under the drain, to cooperate with the Public Health department so that these pipelines would be replaced with immediate effect,” he added.
He further said the district collector and the commissioner of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) had made an on-the-spot visit to Jobra and its adjoining areas, while the CMC Mayor is constantly monitoring the situation.
Admitting that the ongoing JICA project in the city could be one of the reasons for the spread of jaundice, Biswal said the government has specifically instructed the JICA officials to complete their work at the earliest and take adequate measures to ensure that not a single underground pipeline is ruptured.
As informed by the CMC Health Officer, PK Pradhan, the situation is under control. “Since yesterday, we have identified 17 patients affected by jaundice. We are trying to identify more patients,” he informed.
He also said apart from this, the Health department has also taken other measures like awareness campaign, mike announcement, distribution of leaflets and supply of halogen tablets to purify water.
“We are advising the people to drink water after boiling it. We have also requested the people to immediately inform the Public Health department if they notice unhygienic condition in their area,” he added.