Diarrhoea claims 8 lives but official figure stands at four

The Pioneer, 14th August, 2009

Bikash Khemka Bhawanipatna

Eight persons have already died of diarrhoea and many are in serious condition in the villages of Jamchuan, Panchbahali and Ruknibandel under Jugsaipatna GP of Bhawanipatna block, located hardly 30 km from the headquarters town of Kalahandi district. Due to lack of communication, villagers are facing untold difficulties in their day-to-day life. The villagers told The Pioneer that a doctor from Borda had come to their village on August 5 and distributed medicines, oral re-hydration salts and saline. Since then no medical professional has come to their village to offer treatment, they informed.Jamchuan, a small village with only 90 inhabitants staying in 19 houses without electricity, is adjoining the villages of Titijhula, Miangpadar and Ruknibandel. Around 800 voters of these villages had boycotted polls in the last general elections as the leaders and politicians failed to keep their tall promises. In such a pathetic condition, symptoms of diarrhoea were first reported in Jamchuan village on July 31 and the next day one Bane Dei (35), wife of Rupa Majhi succumbed to diarrhoea. Another villager Pulu Majhi (35) died on August 4 and his wife Rupa Dei (32) also died of diarrhoea on August 11 leaving their six children aged one-year to ten years orphaned. Now, the uncle of the six children is looking after them which has become an arduous task, informed the villagers. Another woman Sande Dei (40), wife of Padma Majhi also died on August 4 in the same village. The villagers informed that around 10-15 persons including children are suffering from severe complications like nausea, bloating, fever and cramp-like abdominal pain and stomach pain. If they are not treated immediately, they may succumb to the illness any moment, they apprehended. The villagers use water from the village well for drinking purposes as there is no tube well in the village, they added. The villagers alleged that the doctors can comfortably stay in the school building but they are simply not coming here. The Jamchuan upper primary school with around 35 students remains closed for days together as the two teachers appointed there come only once in a month. The villagers further alleged that the mobile phone numbers given by the doctors for emergency medical consultation remains switched off all the time. Similarly, three members of a family have died in recent days in the village of Panchbahali. One Chukri (28) died on August 2 and his father and mother-in-law also succumbed to diarrhoea on August 4 and August 7, respectively. The villagers also informed that a 25-year-old man from Ruknibandel village died of diarrhoea on Tuesday. While it has been declared officially that only four persons have died till now under Jugsaipatna GP and medical professionals are covering each and every village, villagers are claiming that as many as eight persons have already succumbed to diarrhoea. If immediate steps are not taken by the district administration, the death toll may increase further in the coming days, they apprehended.