Naveen visits Cholera hit districts, says situation stable

Bhubaneswar, Aug 27 (UNI) Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today described the situation of cholera affected Kalahandi and Rayagada districts as stable and under control.

Accompanied by Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Duryadhan Majhi, the Chief Minister air-dashed to some affected villages under Dusmanthour block in Koraput and Kahispur block in Rayagada district where the disease has claimed over 100 lives during the past one month.

On his return from the villages, Mr Patnaik told newsmen here that he had been informed that the situation had yet not taken an ''epidemic proportion''.

The Chief Minister announced that ex-gratia would be given to the next kin of those who died in cholera.

Official sources today confirmed that 48 people in Kashipur and 20 in Dusmantpur blocks have died while over a thousand admitted to various hospitals in the two districts.

Mr Patnaik said steps were being taken to contain spread of the disease. Clean water was being provided in the area and all drinking water sources were being disinfected, he said.

The Chief Minister during his visit to the area directed the district authority to disinfect the water sources within ten days.

Free medicines and food were being provided to the patients and the attendants.

He said labour intensive work would be started in the affected areas to provide jobs to the people. As many as 30 medical teams (16 teams to Dasmantpur and 14 teams to Kashipur) most of them mobile were pressed into service to treat the affected.

The Chief Minister said most of the vacancies in the Public Health Centres and Community Health Centres had been filled up and others would be filled up soon.

All medical officials in the neighbouring districts had been asked to remain alert and keep a close watch on the situation, Mr Patnaik said.

Meanwhile, an investigation made by Regional Medical Research Labortory found 31 out of 40 samples positive for cholera. Earlier a medical team of the MKCG Medical College Berhampur also found presence of Vibrio cholerae in the samples collected from Kashipur.

A three-member Central team led by Director of National Institute of Communicable Disease Prof Shiv Lal held discussion with the state Health Secretary and the Director of Health Services on the situation in the cholera infested areas.The team had gone to Kashipur for an on the spot investigation of the situation, sources said.

UNI