Poor hygiene reason behind cholera outbreak in Mohali's Kumbhra

Gaurav Kanthwal

Mohali, July 24

In the backdrop of cholera outbreak, Mohali Municipal Corporation has its task cut out as garbage can be strewn close to houses at several places in Kumbhra village. Locals fear that the government school kids are a vulnerable lot here as unhygienic conditions prevail just outside the gate with stagnant water and grabage in an empty plot.

Municipal Corporation, water supply and sanitation department, and the health department teams surveyed the area several times a day but failed to see the potential threat.

A middle-aged man throwing up in the open was, however, taken to the medical camp today morning.

Health department officials said the hygiene is very poor in the densely populated areas.

Incidently, the outbreak in Kumbhra is in one big building with more than 50 persons, including women, children and men, staying in a PG-like accommodation. The sunlight and ventilation is a problem here, officials found out. The underground water storage tank was unhygienic which led to the outbreak, they added.

The administration officials said once all the reports are received, appropriate action will be taken against the house owner.

Worryingly, there is a plethora of such cramped, densely inhabited accommodations in Mohali which the Municipal Corporation continues to overlook.

A garbage dump has come up near the entrance of the Government Primary Smart School, Kumbhra, leaving foul smell and unhygienic conditions here round the clock. School teachers said despite several complaints the situation persists. “The area residents and the garbage collectors dump garbage here. We have complained to the Municipal Corporation and the sarpanch but no one listens to our complaints,” a local resident said.

Notably, among the 33 persons who have complained of diarrhoea like symptoms, seven are children.

In several houses, the underground water storage tanks have not been cleaned for months. The overdependence on shallow sources of water through pumps is also said to contributing to the outbreak.

Medical teams that surveyed the area found that illegal constructions in cramped spaces is the major cause of unhygienic conditions.

“Five to six storey houses are easily visible in the village. The building shadow each other so prominently that sunlight barely enters the streets, leave alone inside rooms. It is obvious they are not legally authorised constructions. There is also an issue of safety. What is Mohali Municipal Corporation and GMADA doing for all these areas?” said a health department official.