Sambalpur, Feb. 16: Over 600 jaundice-affected people went to the district collector's office today and submitted a memorandum to chief minister Naveen Patnaik demanding compensation for the families of the affected persons.

The claim was that the jaundice outbreak has taken place due to the negligence of the authorities concerned. "Thousands of people have been affected by jaundice. A huge sum of money is also being spent for its treatment. Hence, the financial condition of several people has become miserable. The government should give Rs 50,000 as compensation to the families of the affected people to meet the treatment cost," said town Congress committee president Jayasankar Mishra.

"More than 25 persons have died of jaundice in the city. The government should give Rs 10 lakh as compensation to the families of the deceased. Kin of 16 persons, who died of jaundice, have also submitted a memorandum to the chiefminister demanding compensation," said Mishra.

"The public health engineering department (PHED) supply drinking water to our locality. However, they are supplying the water without treating it properly. The water supply pipelines are running under the corporation sewage pipes at most places in the city. And due to leakages in those old pipes, drain water seep through and contaminates the drinking water. The contaminated water has caused the jaundice outbreak here.Though the authorities was aware about the situation, they did not take any step to stop the contamination," said Anu Kumar Sahu, a jaundice-affected person.

"Had the authorities taken adequate measures, such a situation would not have happened. Due to the negligence of the government departments, several people have been affected by the disease. The government should compensate those people," said Sahu.

Additional district magistrate Jyoti Kumar Lakra received the memoranda and assured them of forwarding those to the authorities.

On January 17, as many as 445 jaundice-affected persons under the leadership of the town Congress committee lodged complaints at the town police station, Dhanupali police station and Khetrajpur police station seeking criminal proceedings.