The grama panchayat and building owners will take the initiative to provide better accommodation for migrant labourers in Mavoor. Eight cases of cholera have been reported from a labourers’ settlement at Thengilakkadavu in the last one week.
The decision came during a discussion organised by Additional District Medical Officer Asha Devi, following protests by local residents on Saturday demanding the relocation of migrant labourers in the Thengilakkadavu settlement.
District Medical Officer V. Jayashree said it was the responsibility of those who provide accommodation to labourers to ensure that they had access to basic facilities.
“Ensuring clean water and premises for the labourers is not the responsibility of the Health Department,” she said, adding the demand for relocating migrant labourers was unjust.
“Since cholera has been detected among them, they have to be kept under observation for a week,” she said.
Protest
The situation turned tense on Saturday when the public blocked the Mavoor-Kozhikode road.
They also blocked the panchayat secretary who arrived to take action against those providing illegal accommodation to migrant labourers in shop rooms and dingy sheds.
The panchayat had been planning to shift the labourers out of those rooms, but Health officials said those who had lived with the infected should be kept under observation for a few more days and should not be relocated. The move angered local residents.
A meeting of representatives of the public and various political parties, and health officials was held to reach a consensus.
“We were able to convince the local people about the need to keep the labourers under observation,” said the DMO.
Even as no new cholera cases were detected in the district, a report from the Centre for Water Resource Development and Management has confirmed the presence of vibrio cholerae bacteria in water samples collected from the premises. The DMO said she had not received the report yet.
