Ullunda (Sonepur): Deaths due to diseases like meningitis, diarrhoea and malnutrition are worrying the tribals of the remote Patrapali panchayat of Ullunda block in Subarnapur district.
Lack of basic healthcare, education, safe drinking water and good roads is leading to diseases here.
The consumption of contaminated water from ponds, streams and rivers and non-availability of adequate nourishment are the main reasons for contagious diseases here.
Development without motorable roads seems to be a far cry for the tribals here even 72 years after Independence.
The panchayat comprises seven hilly villages, surrounded by rivers and forests are mostly inhabited by tribal people.
The people here live on shifting cultivation and by collecting forest produce. Rice gruel with some salt is their main food.
The seven villages do not have proper roads, health services and safe drinking water. Deaths due to waterborne diseases are reported every year from this area.
The stream water they use for bathing and washing domestic animals is also used for drinking and cooking. This makes the villagers susceptible to diseases.
Even though all families have been given ration cards, they have to trek 10-15 km to get rations from the panchayat office.
The elderly are the worst hit as they have to trek twice a month — once for rations and again for old-age pensions, through the hills. Despite complaints their pleas have been ignored by officials.
Four years back electricity was supplied to the village. But even today the power lines are dead.
There is a school in one village. Although children from the villages go to the foothills for higher education, the parents hesitate to send their wards to school during rains.
Ullunda BDO Runu Lakra said, “I will definitely visit the area and raise the matter with higher-ups.”
PNN