Jaundice, in the form of Hepatitis A and Hepatitis E, is spreading in an epidemic proportion in the city of Sambalpur and its peripheral areas. Even though 30 people have already died due to the disease in the district in last six months, the administration is yet to take preventive measures to arrest spread of the disease, alleged Ranjan Panda, convenor of the Water Initiative Odisha.
Hundreds of jaundice affected people are undergoing treatment in various hospitals and nursing homes while 30 people have died, he said quoting media and field study reports.
“Contaminated food and water are the main reasons for such forms of jaundice. Industrial pollution may be another cause,” Panda said.
The Hepatitis A is primarily transmitted by the faeces-oral route that is when an uninfected person ingests food or water that has been contaminated with the faeces of an infected person. It can be food borne or waterborne. Outbreaks of this disease, that directly affects the liver, is usually associated with sewage-contaminated or inadequately treated water.
The Hepatitis E too is transmitted mainly through contaminated drinking water. It is usually a self-limiting infection and resolves within 4–6 weeks. Occasionally, a fulminant form of hepatitis develops (acute liver failure), which can lead to death.
“Drinking contaminated water and bathing in such water can lead to jaundice caused by these viruses. Sambalpur has very old pipelines and many vulnerable points where the drain water, containing faecal sludge, can enter into the pipelines, making it the perfect grooming place for jaundice epidemic,” warns Panda.
He said in June last year, Water Initiative’ citizen survey had revealed the disastrous state of water bodies, Mahanadi and the sewerage management system.
The factsheet on the citizen’s survey revealed that Mahanadi is a heavily polluted stretch from Hirakud to Sambalpur. Untreated polluted water gets drained into Mahanadi through at least 14 points between these two cities, that’s about a 15 kilometer stretch. These drains bring in about 40 million litre of sewage into the river besides about 100 metric tonne of solid waste that find way to Mahanadi in different ways. While about 40 per cent of the Sambalpur city defecates in open, at least 10 thousand people defecate on the bank of the river itself. This is a daily health disaster as about 30 thousand people take bath in the 50 odd ghats from Hirakud to Sambalpur.
“Despite of our regular warning the Sambalpur Municipality has miserably failed in managing the wastes and in creating sufficient public facilities to stop open defecation. Similarly, the Pollution Control Board has also failed in its job of controlling such contamination and pollution. This can be termed criminal negligence,” said Panda.
There are also forms of jaundice that take place due to heavy industrial pollution from aluminium smelters and coal fired power plants which discharge their wastes directly into Mahanadi and other water bodies.
“We have been urging upon the State Government in this regard but it believes in the OPCB which is known for its lenience towards industrial houses of the State,” he said, adding, “The OPCB’s claims that industries are not discharging wasters into Mahanadi are completely false and ridden with vested interest. What we need is independent investigations,” urged Panda.
“At this moment, OPCB, PHED and the Health Department should step up their actions to control the jaundice from taking an epidemic proportion,” he said.
He demanded that strict regulations be adopted for street food vendors and initiatives be taken for cleaning of all contaminated water sources, arresting leakages in water supply pipelines, augmentation of the medical facilities in the city, increase in the public toilet facilities and monitoring of existing toilets including individual ones.