Date:21/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/21/stories/2008092155140800.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Villagers down with viral fevers

ANANTAPUR: Several villagers in the district are suffering seasonal diseases for the last one month due to good rain across the district. In fresh incidence, two villages in Kadiri area are reported to be reeling with fever, diarrhoea, besides others.

About 50 persons in Bonthapalli village in Tnakallu mandal are suffering from viral fever, including some with symptoms of dengue. Most of the persons who contracted fever are taking treatment in Madanapalle and Bangalore.

The health sub-centre in the village is not opened for last several weeks and neither para-medical or medical teams have visited the village so far. In Akuthotapalli village of Obuladevara Cheruvu mandal, 200 out of a population of 250, are suffering from diarrhoea as the pumpset of their protected water supply scheme had become defunct in the recent rain. As a result, villagers are forced to drink water from an open well. Coupled with poor sanitation against the backdrop of good rain, the situation has worsened. The medical staff at Obuladevara Cheruvu PHC reportedly told villagers that they do not have medicines to treat them.