Sambalpur: A twenty-year-old student of Gangadhar Meher University (GMU) here died of jaundice he allegedly contracted at the university hostel. The deceased was Alekh Sahu, a Plus III final year student of Physics. Jaundice is spreading in the city and elsewhere in the district in the past one month, causing concern among the people here.
Sahu became sick while at the hostel. When his condition worsened, he went to his home at Khuntapali village in Bargarh district. The family rushed him to the Burla-based VSS Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR).
There was a little improvement in his health, and he was brought back home. His condition worsened again leading to admission in a private nursing home in Bargarh. After treatment for some days, he returned home but died a few days later.
Sahu’s classmates said he was affected by jaundice at the hostel. Jaundice is of cause of some deaths in this district, of late, due to poor quality of drinking water. Three persons died so far due to this, while many more were affected in just one month’s time, hospital sources said.
Of the dead, Md Zaheer Mohammed (57) of Pension Pada diedApril 2while on treatment at the district hospital. A 14-year-old student Saswati Mishra died of the disease April 14 at a hospital in Bhubaneswar.
People are concerned over the alleged negligence of the administration to tackle the matter. No awareness programme has been launched. Besides the poor quality of water, street foods like ‘gupchup’, sugarcane juices and ‘Dohi-Bara’ are being cited as the main reasons for the outbreak of jaundice. Restaurants and hotels are also not using safe water for cooking and drinking purposes.