KHOWAI, May 20 (TIWN): Locals of Tripura Basti gram under Badlabari ADC village has been affected by an outbreak of diarrhea in their locality.

According to sources, two locals of Tripura Basti gram identified as Soronaboti Tripura and Madhubala Tripura were hospitalized at Tulasikhar Primary Health centre (PHC) after being hit by diarrhea.

The cause behind the outbreak of the disease is consumption of polluted water, it is learnt. Reportedly, many people including children have fallen ill after drinking brook water and some of them are infected with diarrhea.

Scarcity of water has bound them to drink contaminated water from the small stream and brooks. Eruption of diarrhea is most common during dry spell in remote tribal localities. The family members of the victims claims that, drinking of contaminated water from the dirty streams and brooks due to drying up of regular water sources, and have led to the outbreak of diarrhea in Tripura Basti gram.

According to health sources, in the last malaria epidemic, the state government had been advised by the experts to use second-generation medicines instead of traditional medicines to prevent malaria deaths. The health department had also stocked sufficient medicines in each subdivision and health centre to ensure speedy and effective treatment. But many of the Primary Health Centers (PHCs) do not have sufficient quantity of second generation medicines and Rapid Diagnostic Kits (RDK) at present. 

Earlier, a fresh outbreak has compounded the already grim situation, leading to deaths of 120 people across the state. Village after village has been affected, and a majority of the dead are children.

According to a report of the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP), over 80 people have died from malaria in Meghalaya this year. All the northeastern states, besides West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka, are highly malaria-prone. Over 100 people die every year from the disease in the seven northeastern states, excluding Sikkim. According to NVBDCP, malaria claimed 1,018 lives in 2010 in India, 754 in 2011, 519 in 2012, 440 in 2013, and 350 so far this year.