Saswat Singhdeo

Puri: It seems there is no end to the problems of residents living in and around Puri after cyclone Fani made its landfall in the coastal district on May 3.

Many local residents of Brahmagiri, Krushnaprasad, Chandanpur and Satyabadi areas of the district are reeling under diarrhoea outbreak after the extremely severe cyclone. The affected residents have been admitted in several hospitals in Puri.

“As the tube well water used for drinking became contaminated, I fell sick,” a Brahmagiri resident Kailash Chandra Kar said.

“People from different areas are being admitted into the hospital and right now there are seven affected people in the hospital,” said Annada Patnaik of IDH hospital in Puri.

Even residents of the capital city Bhubaneswar have not been spared from the disease. In areas like Dumduma, diarrhoea has been spreading where nearly 10 to 15 families have been affected in last 3 to 4 days.

With no power supply for many days after Fani, residents of many localities in Bhubaneswar were using contaminated water which is suspected to be the main reason behind the spread of diarrhoea.

While Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities have reportedly started distributing medicines among the local residents, the number of patients at the hospitals is increasing day by day.

Director of Capital Hospital, Dr Ashok Patnaik said, “There are 10 patients currently admitted in the diarrhoea ward. We have sufficient medicines and other arrangements to face any kind of situation.”

Additional Commissioner of BMC, Surath Chandra Mallick said, “After Fani, we have distributed nearly 1.5 lakh halogen tablets and are using disinfectants in different wards. We are trying our best to ensure hygiene in the affected areas.”

Meanwhile, following concerns raised over spread of cholera in Puri, Odisha Health department today clarified that there is no such outbreak in Puri.

"People undergoing treatment for Diarrhoea in hospitals are not Cholera cases. No traces of Cholera found in the samples taken from the Diarrhoea patients," informed an official of the Health department.

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