Sambalpur: Forty-seven cases of jaundice have been reported in the town in the past one month, spreading panic among local people.
Despite cleaning drive taken up by the Sambalpur Municipal Corporation and the district administration, cases of jaundice are being reported here at regular intervals. The first case was detected on March 11.
Most of the cases were reported from Pension Para and Nuapada, where the public health department had disconnected all pipe lines to houses and started providing drinking water through tankers. The civic body has also taken up the job of cleaning drains. Local people attributed the outbreak to the drinking of contaminated water. They have alleged that the house connections and public water tap connections have been leaking inside the drains in most of the areas.
People fear that the epidemic may be the recurrence of 2014 cases, in which more than 30 people died of hepatitis and about 100 had been affected.
In May 2014, chief minister Naveen Patnaik rushed to Sambalpur and reviewed the situation. At that time, he had announced a special grant of Rs 200 crore to Sambalpur for replacing the old pipes.
This time, the first hepatitis related death was reported again from Pension Para on Monday. Jahir Mahammad, 56, who was tested Hepatitis B positive, died at a private nursing home on Monday night. He had been admitted there days ago.
Jumbo attack
In the latest instance of man-elephant conflict, a 28-year-old tribal man was injured following attack by a tusker in forest-side Bayapandadhar village in Banshapala block of Keonjhar district on Wednesday. The victim, Ranjan Juang, was attacked by the jumbo when he had gone into the forest collect fuel wood.
He has been shifted to the district headquarters hospital. He has been stated to be out of danger, said a forest official. The village where the confrontation was reported is close to the elephants' habitation corridor. The animals stray into the village to devour the crop field, which leads to frequent outbreak of man-elephant conflicts.
