Naveen reviews cholera deaths, volunteers to educate people

Bhubaneswar, Aug 28 (UNI) The Orissa government today directed the departments concerned to make a co-ordinated approach to control Cholera and prevent the spread of the disease to new areas.

The disease, which broke out in certain pockets of Koraput, Rayagada and Kalahandi districts has so far claimed around 100 lives and affected thousands more in the last two weeks.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Health Minister Duryodhan Majhi had visited Rayagada and Koraput districts yesterday to take stock of the situations.

Reviewing the situation at a high level meeting here, Mr Patnaik directed the Rural Development, Panchayat Raj, Food Supply, Women and Child Development, SC &ST Development and the Health department to meet the health problems in these areas collectively, and implement the decisions taken at the meeting.

After the meeting, the Chief Minister said volunteers would be recruited and NGOs would be deployed in every affected village to launch a massive awareness programme to educate the people about sanitation.

He said additional toilets would be constructed in the hospital, Public Health centres and Community Health centres, while special arrangements would be made to accommodate more patients in the hospitals.

Apart from all there facilities social security benefits like old age pension, rice and food through public distribution system soon would be provided and disinfections of all water sources would be taken up to prevent the spread of disease to other areas.

It was also decided in the meeting that generation of employment would be created through NREG programme to people in the affected areas.

UNI