Bhawanipatna: Dengue scare has turned Ladugaon region under Koksara block in Kalahandi district into a cursed region after people of the area were boycotted by nearby villagers. Locals fled to other places fearing for their lives, a report said Thursday.
The area has acquired a bad name after several persons were afflicted by dengue due to a rise in Aides mosquito population in the area. While hospital sources claimed 124 persons were affected by dengue, unconfirmed sources claimed the figure could be more than 150.
Going by the looks of the town, it seems as if the town, which is otherwise abuzz with commercial activities, is under an undeclared curfew.
Deserted roads, locked shops and business establishments are indicative of the fear prevailing in the minds of people after the spread of the disease.
A scare of the disease has unnerved people as they were found fleeing to other places fearing for their lives while residents in adjoining villages have stopped visiting Ladugaon for the same reason.
Things have come to such a pass that students have stopped going to schools for study as guardians fear their wards might get affected by the disease if they step outside. This has also hit business in the area when a few days are left for Nuakhai, greatest festival of western Odisha.
Deepak Kumar Swain, a zoologist, from Bhubaneswar recently visited the area and attributed the spread of the disease to the deteriorating sanitary condition and stagnation of effluents discharged from rice and other mills.
Sources said, Ladugaon having a population over 10,000, mostly from Marwari community, is a small town and a business hub and is daily visited by people from Koksara and the adjoining Jaypatna block who come here for purchase of their daily needs and for transacting business
The area has 12 rice mills and various small industries. It is also a source of employment for many people as goods are unloaded and transported from here to other areas by trucks. Locals have demanded the health department and the district administration take urgent measures in this regard.
PNN
