The Telangana health department is facing chlorine tablet crunch to counter the sporadic spread of water borne diseases like cholera, diarrhoea and gastroenteritis  during rainy season in the state.

Already with heavy rains in northern Telangana and parts of Hyderabad, water borne disease like cholera and diarrhoea have been recorded at Hyderabad fever hospital.  “We have been witnessing sporadic incidences of spread of cholera and diarrhoea. During the past 15 days, we have come across about 500 cases suffering from cholera and diarrhoea. The main reason for these diseases is contamination of water and food,” said a senior doctor at Ronal Rose Fever Hospital in Hyderabad.

To counter this, usually chlorine tablets are added to the sources of drinking water bodies, which will purify the water. However, the health department is facing acute shortage of these tablets, because of which the healthcare authorities are facing problems in containing the spread of water borne disease in the state.  “To contain the spread of the water borne diseases we need about 10 lakh chlorine tablets only for Hyderabad. Another 5 lakh tablets are needed for the Range Reddy district. Though we have ordered these tablets to Telangana Medical Services Corporation (TMSC) long back in April, till now we have not received any response from the concerned authorities,” informed a senior officer in the health department.

Usually the shelf life of the chlorine tablets is about 6 months; therefore it is not possible for the authorities to stock them in advance. However, the authorities will have to procure them when they are in need. As the rainy seasons is on and there is a high possibility of diseases spreading through water, the chlorine tablets are very much necessary.

With the recent outbreak of cholera and diarrhoea in Hyderabad and elsewhere in the districts, the health department has come under fire for not taking the preventive measures like testing the water samples and spreading awareness among the public about the water borne diseases.

“The officials will act only when there is any incidence of sporadic spread of disease. They do not have any plan of action in advance to counter any eventuality. Now after the outbreak of cholera they are collecting water samples and sending it for testing,” observed a relative of a patient at Fever Hospital.

Upon enquiring with the TMSC authorities, they said, it is a fact there is a shortage of chlorine tablets in the state. But the problem is from the manufacturer’s side. There are only few manufacturers and for timely supply they need to get the orders much in advance. “We have already ordered for the chlorine tablets, by next week end we will be able to supply the required tablets to the health department,” informed an officials from TMSC.