With jaundice spreading its grip over the pilgrim town of Puri, the administration has geared up to contain the disease after over 400 cases were detected from various parts within last three months and the number has been on the rise. The Sea Beach police along with a Magistrate on Friday sealed two hotels in the Chakratirth area for serving polluted drinking water to visitors. last month random samples from hotels and lodging houses besides all the drinking water sources of the city including bore wells and PHD stand posts located in various parts of the city were collected and sent to a water testing lab at Bhubaneswar.
It was found sanitary conditions in eight hotels and 11 mutts were in very poor condition. lack basic amenities for the visitors in these commercial places of accommodation had rendered them unfit for human habitation. The administration had registered cases under Water Act Section 133 against the polluting hotels in the court of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate Madhusudan Dash. They were served notices.
On Friday, a Magistrate along with Sea beach police sealed the hotel Sun village and Parbati palace. Eight hotels accused of flouting the norms of Water Act are Hotel Beach View, Hotel lotus, City Plaza, Kristy Resort, New Sankar International, Hotel Genesis, Sai Krupa Village and Mahavir Sheraton. These apart, 11 mutts including Ramkrushna Mutt, Satsang Vihar, Kausiya Mutt, Raghavdas Mutt, Sanjhadu Mutt, Badajhadu Mutts, Hati Akheda Mutt, Nirmohi Akheda Mutt Tota Akheda Mutt, Tilak Mutt and Gopal Tirth Mutt were served notices for closure.
Of a total of 7,500 samples collected from different drinking water sources like bore wells and tube wells and tested in the lab at Bhubaneswar, about 1,900 were found contaminated and unfit for human consumption. Similarly of a total of 221 water samples taken from the stand posts, 79 were found contaminated.
Emphasis is being given to improve sanitary conditions in the hotels and mutts having poor hygiene and sanitary conditions besides lack basic amenities. Steps are being taken to register all unregistered hotels, lodging houses and other commercial facilities dealing with the visitors stay with the concerned authorities, said ADMO (public health) for Nabakalebar Kalyan Sarkar, adding a special drive is on to ensure good hygiene and sanitary conditions with provisions for basic amenities in all the tourist accommodation facilities in the city.