Flu rampant in old Adilabad villages

ADILABAD: Fever and flu (influenza) cases were rampant in villages and towns due in the old Adilabad district as a result of sudden change in weather coupled with poor sanitation.

Most of the drainages were choked with garbage dump and mud as a result of laying pipelines under Mission Bhagiratha.

Municipal authorities and gram panchayats were not removing the garbage and drainages and canals were breeding mosquitoes. Foul smell in the area was causing much inconvenience and health problems.

Sources in the health department said World Health Organisation (WHO) had warned that the situation similar to 2009 when swine flu cases were reported could occur and issued guidelines for taking preventive measures. 

A doctor, on condition of anonymity, said it was high time the government took special measures to deal with the health situation before it went out of control.             

People, including children, had been suffering from fever, cold, cough and running nose and rushing to hospitals in the old Adilabad district over the last few days. The number of outpatients (OP) increased drastically recently at Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences Adilabad. Stagnant water and mud excavated for laying pipelines had blocked drainages, resulting in contaminating water bodies. 

Grampanchayat sarpanches claimed they could do little as there were no funds for sanitation works.

According to sources, officials in the panchayatraj department were busy collecting the data regarding villages having more than 15,000 to upgrade them to grampanchayats on state government instruction. They failed to keep track of sanitation activities. 

Fund crunch was also a major issue, the sources said.