BHUBANESWAR: In wake of the diarrhoea outbreak in multiple districts, the state government on Sunday issued an advisory to all urban local bodies (ULBs) and district-level officials asking them to step up preventive and response measures to effectively deal with the health crisis.
Reviewing preparedness of the civic bodies in this connection, principal secretary of the Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) department Usha Padhee directed immediate inspection and cleaning of all drinking water sources and identification of potential hotspots for early preventive measures.
“Considering the situation, we need to act swiftly to contain the spread and safeguard communities from the infection,” Padhee said while calling for enhanced vigilance and realtime monitoring of the sanitisation measures, especially in the urban pockets vulnerable to water contamination.
The civic bodies and district administrations have been asked to maintain close coordination with the Health and Family Welfare department and immediately flag the issue in the event of any cluster outbreak or pattern of mass reporting of diarrhoea. The ULBs have been asked to take up sensitisation drive for the field staff and citizens and encourage community engagement for hygiene practices.
Steps to be taken:
Civic bodies to inspect cleaning of all drinking water sources
Identify potential hotspots for early preventive measures
Dist admins to maintain close coordination, flag the issue in the event of cluster outbreak in urban pockets
Sensitisation drive to be organised for field staff and citizens