A committee has been set up to help the jaundice patients at Vengoor who have not been able to meet the rising hospital expenses.
A meeting held at Vengoor on Tuesday to discuss the worst-ever jaundice outbreak in the panchayat decided to request the public to provide financial aid to the needy. As per estimates by the panchayat authorities, four patients are in urgent need of help as prolonged hospitalisation has left their purses empty. The number of jaundice cases went up to 189 on Tuesday. Two deaths have been confirmed since the first case was reported on April 18.
The elected representatives who attended the meeting blamed the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) for the outbreak. They alleged that the failure of the officials to ensure proper chlorination in the well near a pumping station located close to a pond resulted in the supply of contaminated water. The meeting demanded an inquiry into the lapses and follow-up action against those responsible for it. A march was held by Congress workers to the KWA office at Kuruppumpady demanding action against the erring officials.
KWA officials stated that chlorination of the well was carried out as per norms and the work was recorded in the logbook maintained at the pumping station. They claimed that the district health wing had collected samples from the pond, instead of the well to ascertain whether the water was contaminated. The officials said there were 11 drinking water schemes managed by the panchayat and the possibilities of contamination from those sources could not be ruled out.
Panchayat chairperson Silpa Sudheesh said, quoting an assessment by the health wing, that there were lapses in the chlorination work carried out by the workers entrusted by the authority. “We have asked the KWA to waive the water bills of the patients over the last two months,” she said.
