Contaminated water supply was the main reason behind the spread of epidemic in Lohgarh village of Zirakpur as two of the total five water samples taken from the affected areas have failed the purity test.

Taking note of the problem, the Health department has asked the Zirakpur Municipal Council to restrict the tap water supply to the affected areas till the contamination was not checked and supply of clean water was not ensured. Also, more samples were taken to check the quality of water from other places as well.

With no let-up in the spread of epidemic, around 100 new patients with the symptoms of cholera, typhoid, diarrhoea, jaundice and other water-borne diseases reported at the medical camp organised by the Health department in the village on Monday. As another 100 patients were under treatment at various hospitals and clinics, the total figure of ill persons has reached 400.

Senior Medical Officer Dr Rajeev Bhalla, who headed the medical camp, said 22 of 100 new patients were showing the symptoms of typhoid. Their blood samples were sent for testing. “After two of five water samples testing negative, more samples of drinking water were being collected from different sources to check quality,” said SMO.

‘Situation under control’
Taking stock of the epidemic on Monday, Mohali Deputy Commissioner Prabhjot Singh Mand claimed that the situation was under control. Chairing a meeting of the Health, Water Supply and Sanitation department officials in Mohali, Mand issued instructions to treat the ill persons and ensure supply of clean potable water.

Meanwhile, District Planning Committee Chairman N K Sharma visited the village and assured immediate necessary steps to control the epidemic.

The first of its kind survey of sanitation and cleanliness is the ministry’s first step towards achieving its ambitious agenda of `100 percent sanitation’ in major Indian cities.

The study, which covered cities with a population of more than 1 lakh, has thrown up a few surprises. Smaller cities like Chandigarh, Mysore, Mangalore, Jamshedpur and Surat took the top positions, overtaking bigger cities like Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, which boast of massive resources and better urban infrastructure.

Reacting to the rating, Mayor Banda Karthika Reddy told expresso that steps would be taken to improve cleanliness in Hyderabad by tightening the monitoring of the sanitation wings and also involving residential welfare associations and NGOs.

“Hyderabad in 88th position is very unfortunate and has given a jolt to the image of the city. The corporation will do an introspection and take remedial measures. The NUSP study was done before the municipal elections. Local corporators will be involved to make the city a better to live in terms of sanitation and cleanliness,” the Mayor said.

Free from open defecation, universal access to toilets, treatment of waste, public health and environmental well-being, elimination of manual scavenging, adequate provision of personnel protection equipment that addresses safety of sanitation workers, safe collection, treatment and disposal of all waste water, storm water and recycle/reuse of treated waste water with the ultimate objective of ensuring improved public health outcomes and environmental well-being were the criteria on which the cities were assessed.

NUSP was part of the exercise started last year by the Centre to create awareness about sanitation. The rating covers all major cities and almost 72 percent of India’s total urban population. It was done by three agencies - AC Nielsen-ORG Marg, Development and Research Services (DRS) and the Centre for Environment Planning Technology (CEPT) University. Data was collected between December 2009 and March 2010 and scrutinised by experts in April.