Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Punjab

BSP President Jasvir Singh Garhi alleges gastroenteritis epidemic claims 9 lives in Phagwara

ASHOK KAURA | October 24, 2021 09:16 PM

PHAGWARA: Bahujan Samaj Party Punjab President Jasveer Singh Garhi and (SAD—BSP)candidate from Phagwara assembly constituency and SAD leader Sarwan Singh Kular have alleged that neither district civil administration nor health authorities are taking the gastroenteritis epidemic caused by contaminated water seriously.

They said even DC Kapurthala couldn’t spare time to visit Phagwara to take stock of the situation. They today visited effected localities of gastroenteritis desease and made major revelations which have raised many big questions on the government and the administration regarding the death toll in Phagwara due to the dire situation created by the supply of contaminated water.

Garhi further said that after a thorough investigation of the ground realities. They alleged that it was found that the death toll in Phagwara was 9 due to gestroenteritis but the administration was covering up the negligence in the whole matter by hiding the number.

When contacted Senior Medical Officer Dr Lehmber Ram strongly denied it and told this correspondent here on Sunday evening that only one woman died due to gastroenteritis and all these are merely rumours being spread due to selfish politics only.

But Jasveer Singh Garhi, President, Bahujan Samaj Party, Punjab, said that the government and the administration understand the value of the lives of the poor. Even after all these days, the administration has not made any proper provision of clean water to the people and the supply of contaminated water has not been stopped yet. He questioned the health facilities available to the sick people in Phagwara and said that the Civil Hospital of Phagwara has become a referral hospital only because the hospitals which do not have the capacity to treat vomiting and diarrhea patients are more. What can large health facilities offer?

He said that vomiting and diarrhea patients were also being referred by the doctors of Phagwara Civil Hospital for looting in private hospitals which was exposing the claims of Congress and BJP for development and health facilities. The Akali Dal and BSP leaders jointly said that according to media reports, the administration was admitting that 70 per cent of the samples had failed but the BSP believed that 100 per cent of the samples had failed. Garhi demanded that the affected areas should be re-sampled in the presence of the people's representatives, sealed and sent to the laboratory for testing.

Meanwhile Garhi discussed the issue with Deputy Commissioner Kapurthala Deepti Uppal but Garhi said the DC said it would take a report on the matter from the civil surgeon. Garhi said that this meant that the district administration was asleep even after all this had happened and did not even know what was going on there. He said that this was the entire belt or area where about 90 per cent of the population of SCs and Backward Classes lived and the Congress government was shouting for the welfare of Dalits and Backward Classes but was not implementing anything which was fresh. Evidence is that these are areas of Phagwara where people are losing their lives by drinking contaminated water.

Have something to say? Post your comment