Opposition Congress and BJP on Tuesday took to the streets slamming the BJD Government and the city BJD-ruled CMC for their inept handling in tackling the jaundice menace in the city. The city, which registered at least 150 cases of jaundice last year, has already witnessed 44 positive cases of the water-borne disease over the past one week this year.
“If adequate genuine measures are not taken right now, jaundice may assume epidemic proportion in the city,” warned City Congress president Md Moqim on the day, adding that contaminated drinking water and poor civic maintenances leading to unhygienic conditions everywhere are the two vital causes of the spread of jaundice.
Moqim leading a delegation of Congress workers submitted a memorandum to the district Collector and urged him to ensure that safe drinking water is available in every part of the city. The Congress leader too came down heavily on the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) alleging that it has been turning a blind eye to civic problems.
The BJP too took to the streets on the day targeting the ruling party both at the State and the urban local body. Senior BJP leader Nayan Mohanty moved around the jaundice-affected areas of Jobra and met the afflicted families. The party demanded stringent actions against the erring district officials, particularly of the PHD, for the present situation.
Confirming that four more blood samples of patients were found positive to jaundice test, CDMO Prafulla Behera said till date, 44 cases of jaundice have been detected and all of them are from the Jobra locality.