Filth surfaces as rain water recedes in Cuttack

City Health Officer Satyabrat Mohapatra said the civic body has already started lifting garbage and slush accumulated by the waterlogging and disinfecting the affected localities.
Garbage and mud deposits at Nima Sahi in Cuttack. (Photo | Express)
Garbage and mud deposits at Nima Sahi in Cuttack. (Photo | Express)

CUTTACK: Even as the rainwater has receded in low-lying areas of the city, there has been no respite for the residents due to unhygienic and unsanitary conditions, raising fear of serious outbreak of diseases. The city that reeled under heavy rains for two days is now facing the problem of filth and garbage. The swampy and unhygienic condition prevails in Sutahat, Nima Sahi, Pension Lane, Rovers Street, Meria Bazaar, Makaraba Sahi, Gamadhia and Nuapada. With waste materials including dead insects, reptiles and amphibians decomposing in the slush, a nauseating smell pervades most of the localities.

“I have been wiping my house wall and floor with clothes to make it dry but it has yielded no result. The dampness resurfaces again,” said Sabita Lala of Sutahat adding that her house started smelling foul after drain water receded.Though the unhygienic surrounding is increasing the risk of outbreak of waterborne diseases like typhoid, dysentery, jaundice, Hepatitis A and mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and dengue, no step has been initiated by Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) for cleanliness and disinfection in the affected localities.

“Especially, the pregnant women and new mothers are vulnerable to waterborne diseases. The administration should immediately start supplying water purification tablets and mosquito repellents, and get bleaching powder sprayed in the affected areas,” said health experts. 

City Health Officer Satyabrat Mohapatra said the civic body has already started lifting garbage and slush accumulated by the waterlogging and disinfecting the affected localities. “The cleanliness and disinfection process is expected to be completed within two days in all the 59 wards. We have also asked the PHEO officials to check the drinking water pipelines in the city,” said Mohapatra.  

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