BHUBANESWAR: Salia Sahi, the largest slum of Capital City, is staring at a major Japanese Encephalitis (JE) outbreak with high pig population and lack of health awareness among the slum dwellers.While Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) shows very little interest in its upkeep, giving rise to breeding grounds of mosquitoes, the slum has no proper sewerage system, adding to the problems.
A decade back, the area had offered habitation to migrant population of the State with around 22 lanes or Sahis in 2003. But today, the area has taken the shape of a mega slum with around 60 clusters, thanks to rampant encroachment and illegal construction over 300 acres of land.
While the region is marred with unhygienic conditions, the filthy environ poses serious health risks to people residing in establishments and colonies surrounding Salia Sahi as well as slum dwellers.
Ekamra Kanan, Mayfair, Regional College of Management, Nalco corporate office and colony, East Coast Railway colony and residential pockets of Nayapalli including multi-storey apartments are major areas to be affected in case there is an outbreak of JE in Salia Sahi.
Pig pens are a common sight in the area covered with algae and sewage water. These water bodies are used both by cattle and stray animals. While Salia Sahi comes under six municipal Wards of the BMC, the sanitation condition has remained a big neglect.
A first hand account of the slum establishes that the locals are completely unaware that pigs are carriers of the deadly Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV). High pig population, low socio-economic status and lack of health awareness are the major reasons for the spread of JE or Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Salia Sahi offers all of those on one platter.
While 24 deaths were reported in 2012 in the State due to JE, locals claim no awareness was created among them during that period about the danger of rearing pigs.Contacted a senior officer of the City Health Office said the situation is under control and efforts are on to sanitise the area. "We are now spraying larvicide in water bodies and fogging will be done only if the situation demands," he added.
A major concern which compounds the problem is existence of slum mafia which facilitate construction of houses in marshy areas. "The vote bank which Salia Sahi offers is lucrative and it only keeps on growing every passing year, making the locality cramped," a local corporator said.