Bhubaneswar, Mar 24: Union Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday wrote to the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya urging him to send a medical team to Sambalur to check the spread of diarrhoea in Hirakud and adjacent areas in the district at the earliest. 

In his letter, Union Minister Pradhan expressed deep concern that the diarrhoea situation has now posed a danger to the lives of people in the Hirakud area. He mentioned that appropriate measures need to be taken to check the spread of the disease and also prevent it from spreading further. Over a hundred people have been affected by the water-borne disease, he noted quoting media reports. 

The Union Minister appraised that while contaminated drinking water is suspected to have caused the spread of the disease, locals have alleged that the low-quality water pipes have developed leakages leading to the health situation.  Children and elderly persons have been victims of the situation. 

Mentioning all these, the Union Minister sought the intervention of Union Health Minister to deploy a central medical team in the affected areas to provide urgent medical assistance to those affected by diarrhoea.  Pradhan requested Mandaviya to identify the root cause of diarrhoea and initiate a 'massive public health awareness campaign' to prevent the disease from spreading further. He also urged him to take appropriate measures to protect the people.

Notably, Union Minister Pradhan had yesterday spoken to Sambalpur CDMO Dr Sujata Rani Mishra to provide proper healthcare to the affected people. 

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