Cuttack, March 30: Two fresh cases of hepatitis were reported here today, taking the total number of patients affected by the liver disorder to 46.

The outbreak of hepatitis A and E at Jobra has brought to fore the poor sanitation scenario in the city.

Untreated sewage from many households is often directly released into drainage channels. Moreover, many households don't even have a septic tank, which is one of the foremost prerequisites for keeping the environment clean.

As most pipelines pass through drainage channels, the water gets contaminated whenever there is a leakage in the water supply pipeline caused during a construction or through the natural process of rusting, a local resident said.

Even though 20 squads of PHED are now on the job to find out leakages in the water supply lines, they have not yet come across any damage or leakage.

However, this is not the first time that jaundice outbreak has hit Jobra. Last year, too, more than 150 people were tested positive for hepatitis in the city, most of whom were from Jobra.

Acute water crisis is another problem that residents in Jobra have been grappling with for the past couple of years.

"It is unfortunate that the safe potable water is still a distant dream for the people in Cuttack. The return of jaundice speaks volumes about the poor sanitation measures taken by the authorities for the replacement of the old pipelines," said Kailash Das, 56, a local resident.

More than 44 have been affected by jaundice so far in the past two weeks. Most of the residents depend on the drinking water supplied by the public health engineering department, Das said.

"The district administration had set up a health camp here three days back, but no step has been taken to make it function 24/7. As a result, many people affected with jaundice are forced to seek medical advice from doctors at private clinics," said Md. Itmtiyaz Alam, 16, another jaundice affected.

The district administration officials, on the other hand, claimed that over 7,500 old pipelines were replaced following the jaundice outbreak in three to four localities, including Jobra, last year at an estimated cost of Rs 2.30 crore.

"Already, the officials of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) have been asked to come up with a standard operating procedure to put a check on the release of sewage directly into the drainage channels," said district collector Nirmal Chandra Mishra.