Excelsior Correspondent
NAGROTA, Mar 16: Expressing serious concern over outbreak of water-borne diseases in Rabta Bhagani Panchayat in Mathwar Block of Nagrota Constituency and its adjoining areas, Provincial President National Conference Devender Singh Rana today called for a multi-pronged strategy to combat the malady and check its further spread.
“Around 400 people, mostly children have been affected who are suffering from gastroenteritis, diarrhea and dehydration problems”, he said after extensive visit to the interior areas since last evening. He visited various affected far off villages of the constituency since wee hours today.
Mr Rana met the people, sought first hand information and coordinated the efforts being made by Health Department to meet the challenge. While appreciating quick response by the doctors, he stressed the need for deployment and stationing of special mobile teams in the most affected areas. He also sought setting up of a temporary control room in the area with adequate facilities to respond to the exigencies, whenever and from wherever reported.
During his visit, the local officers and doctors apprised Mr Rana about the measures taken for providing medical assistance to the affected people and arrangements made to contain its spread.
The Provincial President stressed the need for evolving a multi-pronged strategy to ensure safe drinking water, maintain health and hygiene, pump out stagnated water accumulated due to incessant rains for the past few days besides providing timely medical assistance to the suffering people.
He asked the officers to find the cause of the outbreak of disease and ensure that contaminated or unsafe water is not provided to the people. He urged the Public Health Engineering Department to immediately clean up various tube-wells, dug wells and other sources of drinking water besides undertaking repairs of damaged hand-pumps and leaking pipes. He sought testing of water samples and providing of testing kits to the people.
While emphasizing the need for generating awareness among the people, he asked the concerned authorities to ensure supply of clean and safe water to children in the schools.
He assured the people of Nagrota that the situation arising in the wake of outbreak of disease will be projected at appropriate forums for seeking immediate redressal.
The Provincial President also cautioned the Government about spread of disease in other areas in the wake of several areas across the Jammu region getting inundated due to continuous downpour for the past few days. He sought elaborate measures for dewatering in prime areas of the Jammu city that stand choked and submerged due to heavy rainfall.
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