Jaundice spread: HP Chief Secy says decline in number of cases

Himachal Chief Secretary P Mitra today said there has been decline in jaundice cases in Shimla and Solan as he assured that government has taken due measures to ensure that "untreated water" was not consumed by people.
Reviewing the situation at a high-level meeting here, he said that most of the jaundice cases were of Hepatitis-'E' for which free testing and treatment facilities arebeing provided at Indira Gandhi Medical College.
He advised the government and the private schools managements of both the towns to clean their water tanks and change its drinking water in their campus.
He said the water of the Solan treatment plant was sent for testing and it had been found safe for drinking. However, the Health department had been asked for sampling on regular basis so that quality of the water could be maintained.

Mitra said that urban development department had already released Rs 6 crore for the maintenance of treatment plants and directed the higher authorities to check all Sewage Treatment Plants throughout the state.
The team had served notices to 1,176 defaulters in 10 wards so far besides disconnecting 77 connections for using contaminated water.
He said Panchayati Raj Department had also constituted inter-block teams and was organising awareness camps to inform people about adopting complete sanitation.
The number of jaundice cases has crossed the 1000 mark and the disease has spread from Shimla to Solan, prompting the government to take immediate effective steps to control the spread of the disease.