Bhubaneswar, April 11: Outbreak of jaundice at Jharana slum and Damana village has become a major concern for the municipal corporation. However, the civic body is yet to intensify its drive against vendors selling stale food and drinks.

A number of roadside kiosks selling fruit juice and other drinks are doing brisk business in the city where the temperature has soared in the last few days. However, no one is sure about the quality of water being served at these places. 

“Hundreds of roadside kiosks are selling mango shakes in the city. They use dry ice, which is prepared at the city’s ice factories. In many cases, these ice factories use contaminated water that could spread diseases such as jaundice,” said Rohit Das, a resident of Mancheswar.

City residents also demanded a drive against the sale of drinking water pouches. Most drinking water pouches are sold without any manufacturing and expiry dates and this poses serious health hazards, especially in summer when the demand for these goes though the roof. At present, more than 30 different drinking water pouches are available in the market, most of them manufactured locally.

While the pouches are in huge demand since they are cheap and easily available, the lack of proper mechanism to check the quality of drinking water in them has raised many eyebrows. There is no proper record of how many such manufacturing units operate in the city.

“There are thousands of food kiosks operating in the city. But apparently, there is no mechanism to check the quality of food served there. The civic body should start a drive against food kiosks selling stale and unhygienic food,” said Bijay Mishra, a city resident.

The jaundice situation remains critical in Bhubaneswar with around 50 cases reported from the Jharana slum and six reported from Damana village. The civic body on Saturday started a jaundice awareness campaign in the city. A vehicle is moving around telling people about the symptoms of jaundice, its causes and preventive measures. Civic body officials have also roped in Anganwadi workers in the awareness campaign.

Bhubaneswar mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said the civic body had started a drive against street vendors selling stale and unhygienic food. 

“The drive would be intensified and we will crack down on vendors selling fruit juices and other drinks,” said Jena.