Post News Network
Cuttack, Feb 12: The Orissa high court Thursday directed the state government to form a high-level committee chaired by chief secretary to monitor the situation amid reports that jaundice cases crossed 100 in the millennium city. The court asked state health secretary to submit an action taken report (ATR) in the next two weeks.
The high court’s order came on a petition filed Thursday by Giribala, president of the Cuttack Mahila Congress committee and Opposition leader of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC), which alleged serious deficiencies on the part of the state government in controlling spread of jaundice and malaria.
A bench of justices Indrajit Mohanty and SC Parija said the panel should have secretaries from different departments as its members.
The number of jaundice patients in the city, which was 89 Wednesday, shot up to 104 Thursday with 15 more people being affected by the disease. The water-borne disease, which has already affected the people in Jobra, Nayak Sahi, Thoria Sahi, Badhei Sahi, Machhua Bazar and Gamhadia areas, has spread to Patapola area in the city.
Residents of Patapola area alleged that the underground water-supply lines are damaged and the water has thus been contaminated by drain water.
They also said that an overhead water tank set up by the public health department in the recent past has been of no use as water has not been supplied to the tank.
The district administration says it has been trying to curb spread of jaundice by deploying medical teams who would conduct health check-up in several localities and collect blood samples for test.
The health department has launched a massive awareness drive through distribution of leaflets and announcements over loudspeakers. While CMCH authorities have claimed to have taken up cleaning of garbage dumps as part of a massive sanitation drive, the public health department is doing repair and replacement of cracked water pipelines on a war footing.
The civic authorities are also distributing halogen tablets among people in the affected localities to disinfect the water, said health department officials.
