More than 30 persons at the Jharana slum in Ward-53 tested positive for jaundice. The administration has beefed up efforts to curb the waterborne disease as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik belongs to the ward.
On Thursday, a group of doctors and health officials visited the slum and took stock of the situation and also collected blood samples of many for test. The team distributed medicines and made people aware about the preventive measures of the disease.
While the health officials said that the slum dwellers were using contaminated water of well in their locality resulting in spreading of the disease, the residents held the administration responsible for the menace citing that piped drinking water was contaminated as it has come under drains.
Meanwhile, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Food Safety Squad collected water samples from various Gup Chup vendors and the juice centres at Wards-35 and 41 in the Ram Mandir and Big Bazar areas.
BMC Food Safety Officer Arun Kumar Chatterjee along with Sanitary Inspectors collected the samples.
Masks, gloves and caps were also distributed free of cost to the vendors. The BMC strictly instructed the roadside vendors to wear gloves, masks and caps.
Violation of adopting hygienic practice would lead to seizure of the shop and other legal action as per the existing law, informed the Food Safety Squad.
The squad would collect water samples from Gup Chup sellers of other parts of the city in next few days. Notably, the BMC has taken initiatives for creating awareness for prevention of jaundice.