Already some 300 persons in Gaindatar village of Chandranigahapur VDC in Rautahat

district are reportedly suffering from diarrhoea and cholera. Out of them, 32 are said to be in critical condition and are now being treated at Birgunj-based Narayani Sub-regional Hospital. While around 100 patients are admitted at Primary Health Centre in Chandranigahapur, healthworkers from the district headquarters are providing basic treatment to around 200 people in the village itself. But the medical practitioners are worried about the increase in the number of cases of water-born diseases in days ahead and the acute space shortage in hospitals and health posts, as is currently the case at the Chandranigahapur health centre.

Surely, the situation is going to get even worse. And this is just the case of a village. With the onset of the summer season, each year thousands of people fall easy prey to water-born diseases like diarrhoea, cholera, jaundice and typhoid. Also, each year the epidemics mainly hit the rural areas of the country. The number of people affected and the intensity of the epidemics do not seem to have diminished over the years. Unless the authorities concerned take precautionary measures in order to prepare for such an eventuality, the crisis is not going to be overcome with any degree of effectiveness. Moreover, the recurrent problem and the failure of the state machinery to deal with it also demonstrate that the government’s efforts to control such diseases have been a glaring case of inadequacy.