Post News Network
Sambalpur, Feb 16: Holding contaminated water supplied by the public health and engineering department (PHED) responsible for the spread of jaundice, which has officially claimed 26 lives and affected thousands of people in this district, scores of Congress workers led by town unit president of the party Jayashankar Mishra took out a rally here and submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik through collector Balwant Singh Monday.
In the memorandum, the Congress activists demanded `10 lakh compensation to the family of each deceased. The activists, backed by more than 600 jaundice patients, also sought `50,000 aid to each jaundice affected patient towards treatment.
Apart from this, the protesters also demanded stringent legal action against officials of the civic body, PHED, health as well as pollution control wings for their alleged inability in taking measures for prevention of the disease. They warned to launch a massive protest in future if their demands are not met.
The protesters also alleged in the memorandum that PHED authorities have not been purifying the drinking water properly. As per standard procedure, the authorities concerned are required to supply purified drinking water to residents after lifting it from river Mahanadi near Balibandh. However, the water is getting contaminated due to release of sewage and waste into the river.
The activists further alleged the municipality authorities have not bothered to clean the sewerage system in the town. The water supplied to residents through pipes laid by PHED has become polluted due to mixing of wastewater through leakages at several points, they alleged.
The protesters also alleged the district health department has failed to provide adequate treatment to patients. The disease has assumed epidemic proportions due to the negligence of officials of various departments, they alleged.
The activists also criticised the state government for failing to take effective measures to contain the disease which is spreading from urban to rural areas and rejected the official death toll of 26 deaths. The water-borne disease is affecting more and more persons with each passing day and it has claimed more than 41 lives, they claimed.
Scores of patients lodged a complaint at Town police station against various officials in the wake of the outbreak of the disease. The protesters flayed the police officials as they sat upon the complaints.
