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Haryana: Diarrhoea outbreak on Baddi border, two children killed, 85 taken ill

During an investigation by the Panchkula surveillance department, poor sanitary conditions and storage of drinking water have been highlighted.

diarrhoea, diarrhoea cases himachal pradesh, diarrhoea cases baddi border, himachal pradesh news, chandigarh news Patients of diarrhoea from Shahpur Huts being treated at Civil Hospital in Sector 6, Panchkula, on Wednesday. (Express photo/Jaipal Singh)

TWO CHILDREN were killed and 85 people were taken ill in a diarrhoea outbreak in Shahpur Huts on the Baddi border in a span of two days, Monday and Tuesday.

A team of doctors was on the site to control the situation. While people are being treated at the spot itself, as many as 20 severe cases have been referred to hospitals — 17 to Civil Hospital, Panchkula, two to CHC, Kalka, and one to Civil Hospital, Baddi. All admitted patients are stable and under observation. Out of the 85 patients, 53 were recorded on Monday while 32 were recorded on Tuesday.

The two deaths happened on Monday. The first victim was a 10-year-old girl, Bhavna, who died at home and the second was two-years-and-a-half-old Lalita, who died at Siddhant hospital, Baddi. Both died around 9 am on Monday and were the first two cases to be registered. The Shahpur Huts is an area of land where migrant labourers from UP and Bihar live in make-shift huts who work in various factories of Baddi. As many as 1,825 people reside in the area.

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During an investigation by the Panchkula surveillance department, poor sanitary conditions and storage of drinking water have been highlighted. Three water samples have ben taken and sent to the Public Health Laboratory, Ramgarh. Samples have also been sent for cholera testing at various hospitals.

It was found during the investigation that there was no supply of drinking water by the public health department at Shahpur. The village is divided into two parts, upper area and lower area. In both areas, there is a private tubewell each for water supply and the water gets stored in two different tanks. People consume the water stored in these tanks. The tank being used to store water in upper area is not covered and not properly clean. There are several leakages in pipeline supplying water from tubewell to tanks in both areas.

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As a precautionary measure, the health department has made people of the area aware of the problem and distributed 120 ORS packets and 3,000 halogen tablets. Potable water too has been arranged for. The leakages in the pipeline are being checked by designated authorities and a special medical post has been established in the area.

Free treatment is being provided to all. “The condition is improving and we hope to see a fall in the total number of cases recorded,” said Dr Rajiv Narwal, Deputy Civil Surgeon, Civil Hospital, Panchkula.

First uploaded on: 12-09-2019 at 10:20 IST
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