Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday announced a Rs100-crore package for an underground piped water supply project for Sambalpur apart from a slew of other measures to contain the alarming spread of jaundice in the city.
After holding a review meeting on the situation arising out of the spread of jaundice here with the district administration, the Chief Minister, as part of the package, announced a Rs 60-crore project for renovation of three nullahs, Dhobijor, Haradjor and Tangana, which drain into river Mahanadi.
Chief Secretary Gokul Chandra Pati, Health Secretary Arti Ahuja, Sambalpur Collector Balwant Singh and other senior officials of concerned departments were present at the meeting. Patnaik also announced that those affected with jaundice would be provided with free diagnostics, treatment and medicines, besides free distribution of halogen tablets and bleaching powder in the affected areas.
It was decided at the meeting to set up five to six plastic water tanks of six lakh litres capacity as an ad-hoc measure to provide safe drinking water in the affected areas. Moreover, 50 community toilet blocks with 500 toilet seats in each would be set up in different areas to stop people from defecating in the open. Open defecation is a major problem in certain areas of the city.
A State-level team of experts would be stationed in the city for regular testing of blood as well as water samples, the Chief Minister said. It was also decided to go in for an ultramodern sewerage disposal/treatment project for the city.
lastly, the Chief Minister said a formal notification declaring the VSS Medical College and Hospital at Burla as an autonomous institution would be made on January 1 next. Critics, however, said the Chief Minister’s visit and announcements were aimed at the forthcoming elections to the Sambalpur Municipality, which has been declared as a corporation by the Government.
They termed it as an exercise to put in order the eroding base of the BJD in the city in view of the situation arising out of the outbreak of jaundice, which has claimed 21 lives according to unofficial figures. The official figure, however, remains 17 with more than 1,200 persons affected, most of them from the common class which votes.