BHUBANESWAR: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed Odisha Government to pay Rs 4 lakh to family members of four persons who died of diarrhoea after consuming contaminated water in a remote tribal village of Balasore district four years back.
Sasmita Patra, Sanatan Jharia, Pabitra Senpati and Gouramani Patra of Aghirapada village under Oupada block in Balasore had succumbed to diarrhoea after consuming contaminated water from a pit on July 7, 2016.Though the patients were carried on cots from the inaccessible village to a nearby connecting road from where they were rushed to Oupada hospital, their treatment was delayed due to absence of doctors. They were later shifted to Soro hospital, but doctors could not save them.
The village having a population of 1,000 is located near a forest. As there was no facility for safe drinking water, villagers were fetching water from a nearby pit. Acting on a petition by Supreme Court lawyer Radhakanta Tripathy following a report in The New Indian Express, NHRC asked Chief Secretary to pay the compensation to the deceased’s kin and submit compliance within four weeks.