There Is A Rise In Number Of Jaundice Cases Reported In The Tribal Block After malnutrition deaths, Attapadi is now staring at waterborne diseases. There is a rise in number of jaundice cases reported in all three panchayats in the tribal block. Pudur village witnessed the first jaundice death – of sixth standard student Rangaswamy – on Tuesday. Health workers blame the lack of access to clean drinking water and medical care for the rise in cases. “Rangaswamy was given herbal medicine for a week though he was suffering from high fever and showing symptoms of acute jaundice. The number of jaundice cases is on the rise as villagers have no access to clean drinking water. Even our repeated requests to provide boiled water to those admitted to the tribal specialty hospital have not evoked any response from the government,” said a senior official of the hospital. Around Rs 25 crore has been spent so far in laying pipelines and installing water tanks but many of these villages still don’t have access to the water supply. “Many residents of Sholayur panchayat are forced to draw water from puddles around leaking pipelines and drinking this water can lead to waterborne diseases like typhoid, jaundice and diarrhoea,” the official said. Tribal activists said even the public health centres, anganwadis and integrated child development service centres have no access to clean drinking water. “The Siruvani river has become polluted as resort owners have been dumping their waste into the river. The lack of adequate toilet facilities in the area aggravates the problem,’’ said Rajendra Prasad, president of NGO Tambu. He said the government should take stringent action against these resort owners and provide clean public toilet facilities for tribals staying along the banks of the Siruvani. At least 25 were killed in an outbreak of waterborne deceases in Attapadi a decade ago, following which the government had announced the Thumpara water project. “The Rs 8.5-crore project still remains on paper. The state should implement the project before it is too late,” Prasad said. A recent study by a team of doctors, led by Alappuzha medical college former viceprincipal Dr E K Satyan, had found that infants in the area were all the more vulnerable to waterborne diseases and secondary infections as their immunity levels are low. In the past 15 months, 43 infant deaths were reported in the area.