Taking steps to check further spreading out of diarrhoea in Samana which claimed five lives, Punjab Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jayani on Friday asked the State Water Supply and Sanitation department to immediately check and fix the problems in water pipes causing water contamination and ensure consumption of safe drinking water to the residents so that no further damage is caused.
“Drinking water is been supplied to the area through Municipal Corporation Tankers to discourage the use of ground water. All the existing water connections have been cut till the normal water supply is being restored,” said Jayani.
The Minister has also asked Patiala Civil Surgeon Dr Rajiv Bhalla to personally monitor the situation and depute medical team in the locality to provide instant medical assistance to the diarrhoea patients.
The patients are being provided with free treatment and medical aid in the camps and also in the Government Hospitals, said the minister, adding that all the health institutions, in and around Samana, have been given adequate medicines, ORS and chlorine tablets.
Dr Bhalla informed that as many as 120 patients have been admitted in the hospitals for the last three days.
“Six patients have died, out of which four patients died while undergoing treatment in some private hospitals while two of them died after being referred to PGI Chandigarh and Rajindra Hospital Patiala.
The exact cause of death of patients who died at home was being investigated,” he added.