Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, March 8: The Orissa High Court has issued notices to the state government to furnish measures it has taken to check jaundice which has assumed endemic proportions.
Taking up a public interest litigation (PIL) in this connection, the High court issued notices to secretaries of Health and family welfare and Housing and urban development departments to file their replies in the form of counter-affidavits by the next hearing of the PIL scheduled for March 10, a senior government official told Orissa POST Sunday.
“We have stopped supply of piped water in jaundice-prone areas, replaced and repaired old water pipes, tested water samples in all civic areas among others. We will file the affidavits before the court,” said an official of H&UD department.
Notably, the court has issued similar notices to the government in January when jaundice had claimed over 20 lives in Sambalpur.
Meanwhile, the H&UD department has issued precautionary measures to prevent spread of Hepatitis-E and instructed all civic bodies to follow the guidelines.
“It is a matter of concern that, outbreak of Hepatitis-E has been reported from different parts of the state. It is appropriate at this time to take preventive measures such as provision of safe drinking water, maintenance of personal sanitation, adoption of safe food practices and avoidance of unhygienic situation in the locality,” H&UD secretary G Mathivathanan wrote to all civic bodies.
The government has directed all officials to monitor sources of drinking water, organise monthly meeting of employees and elected members of the ULBs to create public awareness on personal hygiene.
“Keep watch on sanitation workers engaged in solid waste and liquid waste management and allow no tolerance. Pursue slum-dwellers to maintain cleanliness in their surroundings. If possible, steps may be taken to build septic latrines in the slums,” Mathivathanan advised.
At least 27 persons have died due to jaundice in the past two to three months while several other afflicted persons are undergoing treatment in various hospitals across the state.