HP: 868 Cases of Diarrhea Reported in Hamirpur; Unfiltered Water Blamed

A total of 868 cases of diarrhea have been reported in Naudaun subdivision of Hamirpur district so far, with one victim under treatment at a hospital, officials of the health department said on Monday.

Six teams of the health department have screened people in 47 villages, Hamirpur Deputy Commissioner Debasweta Banik said.

She said the health check-up of people in diarrhea-affected villages is apace and the Chief Medical Officer and District Health Officer have been instructed to make all necessary arrangements, adding enough medicines and ORS packets have been sent to the affected villages.

Two additional vehicles have been made available from Health Block Tauni Devi for the teams working in the field, the DC said.

Besides the Jal Shakti department, the health department too has taken water samples and sent them for testing.

More than 530 persons were taken ill after allegedly consuming contaminated water in a dozen villages till Sunday night and the number rose further on Monday.

Banh, Jandgi Gujran, Jandali Rajputan, Panyala, Pathiyalu, Niyati, Rangas Chowki Haar, Thain, and Sankar were among the worst-affected villages.

At least two to three people in every household fell sick after consuming contaminated water provided by the Jal Shakti department, Rajeev Kumar, the head of Rangas panchayat, had said on Sunday.

It is believed that the high amount of bacteria in the water caused the sickness, he said, and attributed it to contamination of the pit from which the water is supplied.

Villagers said the water was supplied unfiltered from an under-construction tank. The report of water samples is still awaited.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who is also the MLA from Naudan, has directed the district administration and the health department to take proper care of the patients and ensure there is no shortage of medicines and other items.

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