Malkangiri, June 7: Nearly 250 families of Andrahal village in Bondaghat region under Khairaput block in this district are in a state of panic after over a hundred families have contracted a mysterious illness in the last few days.
Despite the disease taking the shape of an epidemic, no medical team has arrived in the area to diagnose the affected people and check the outbreak as health officials are reportedly not aware of the development, according to a report.
Man Batri (40), a villager, said locals are down with fever for the last one week but have failed to consult physicians in places like Koraput, Khairaput or Mudulipada due to lack of transportation facilities. Similarly, Gori Shisha, a three-year-old child has been suffering from the ailment for the last five days but is yet to be treated as medicines are not available with the local ASHA worker.
Another patient Ajay Shisha said they have to walk about 15 km to reach the nearest town of Ankadeli in Koraput district. Mudulipada and Khairaput town are 20 and 40 km respectively from there which has made it impossible for the patients to visit any hospital.
It is alleged that no health worker has turned up at the village due to poor communication facilities. Many patients were seen lying in a miserable state without being administered even a single dose of medicine.
The residents suffer due to the negligence of the district administration, the villagers alleged.
Chief district medical officer Dr Uday Shankar Mishra said the Khairaput medical officer would be asked to send a medical team to the village to take stock of the situation.
The villagers are deprived of a hospital despite the government claiming to have spent crores of rupees for the prosperity of the Bonda community. Though there is a hospital at Mudulipada, it is being run by an NGO, it was learnt. PNN