Lalitpur, July 13:

Lalitpur district is facing an outbreak of water-borne diseases with 146 cases of cholera and 398 cases of diarrhoea recorded at the Patan Hospital only this month, the Lalitpur District Public Health Office (DPHO), said.

The number of cholera cases at the hospital is rising. Ten cholera cases were recorded in July 11 and 12 alone.

A total of 86 cases of hanging drop cholera and 60 cases of stool culture cholera were recorded from mid-June till July 12, the DPHO said.

Altogether 215 cases of diarrhoea and 11 cases of hanging drop cholera had been reported from mid-May to mid-June.

Some 170 cases of diarrhoea were reported in the hospital from mid-April to mid-May,

said Rishi Lamichhane, chief of the DPHO. Most of the patients were from the inner parts of the Lalitpur sub-Metropolitan City (LSMC), including Mangal Bazaar, Gabahal, Chhyasal, Sundhara, Natole and Kupondole. Some cases were reported from the outskirts of Lalitpur, including Dhapakhel, Imadole, Godawari, Balkumari and Bagdole.

Dal Bahadur Singtan, president of Urban Environment Management Society (UEMS) — a local NGO in Patan, said that the construction works of the sewage pipelines in the core area of Patan had contributed to the spread of water-borne diseases.

“Drinking water pipelines and sewage lines run parallel underground and repair and construction works of sewage pipelines contaminate the drinking water, resulting in the spread of water-borne diseases,” he said.

He also said tests have shown that the quality of the drinking water supplied in the region does not meet the required standard.

Meanwhile, the DPHO, in coordination with the LSMC and UEMS, has launched awareness programmes. Five Tole Health Promoters in each 22 wards of LSMC have been trained on preventative and precautionary measures to keep cholera at bay.

The UEMS has taken the responsibility of chlorinating water in dug wells and water tankers. The UEMS has also distributed Fickle Residual Chlorine (FRC) kit and bleaching powder to the LSMC ward offices.