Excelsior Correspondent
MENDHAR, May 22: With the forty more fresh cases of diarrhoea reported to the Sub District Hospital Mendhar today, the District Administration today cancelled leave of all the Medical employees in Mendhar Sub Division and also issued fresh directions to the employees not to leave their stations/ Health Centres without the prior permission of Chief Medical Officer, Poonch.
The epidemic in Mendhar Sub Division is taking ugly turn with every passing day while the CMO Poonch Dr Mumtaz Bhatti today rushed to the SDH Mendhar and convened emergency meeting of all the Medical Sector officers of the area including Mankote, Harni, Gursai, Balakote, Dhar Galoon etc. The BMO Mendhar Dr Zuflkar Choudhary and other doctors revealed that there was shortage of drip sets and Glucose bottles/ fluid in hospitals and the same may be provided immediately.
The CMO directed to the Medical officers to visit their respective areas and take all possible measures to contain the epidemic. He also cancelled the leave of all the Medical staff employees and issued directions not to sanction any leave without his prior permission. CMO said that doctors and para-medical staff should be made available in hospitals round the clock. He also stressed for educating people for consuming boiled and safe drinking water.
BMO, Dr Zulfkar said that over 250 people have reported so far to the SDH Mendhar during last five days while 40 fresh cases were reported to the hospital today. The children and elderly persons are more effected with the loose motions and vomiting. He said this is water borne disease and majority of the cases have been reported from Mendhar town. It seems that water supply to the town is unhygienic and several samples have been lifted and sent to the Labs in Jammu and district headquarters for checking the quality of water, he said.
Meanwhile, advocate Nadeem Khan, who is also president of Mendhar Youth Club said that there is massive leakage in PHE pipes in the town and at many places, the pipes are passing through dirty drains and filthy nallahs. The contaminated drain water enters into the pipes and reaches in the houses through these pipes. He said that local PHE staff knows about the problem but they hardly take corrective measures. They neither clean water storage tanks or add Chlorine into the water tanks. Even there is no filtration plant of the PHE department in the area. So the water being provided in the town is not safe, Nadeem added.
I/C AEE PHE Mendhar, Abdul Majid Choudhary when contacted said that today he issued directions to the staff to mix Chlorine in the water storage tanks to improve water quality. He said that he was aware of the water leakage at certain points in the town and the field staff has been asked to rectify the faults. He said that the department will also go for water samples testing at its own.
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