Patna, May 28 (IANS): As many as 17 persons from a village in Raghopur Assembly constituency in Bihar's Vaishali district died of Covid-19 infection in a single month, according to Juhi Parveen, the head of Chak Sikandar village panchayat.

Juhi Parveen released a list of the victims on Friday and said neither the district health department nor RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav took cognisance of severe Covid-19 infection in Mansukhpur village which falls under the Chak Sikandar village panchayat.

The deaths occurred between April 12 to May 12 due to severe Covid-19 infection in the village.

"It was like a community spread in the village comprising a population of 500 people. The situation was such that all family members in some houses were infected with Covid-19 infection. We have gone to the graveyard for burial of dead bodies almost every day," said Mozahid Anwar, the husband of Juhi Parveen.

"Due to severe Covid-19 infection, many villagers migrated from Mansukhpur to other places. The situation is such that retailers avoid giving daily required domestic items to the villagers of Mansukhpur," he added.

The deceased have been identified as Sazid Akhtar, Juhi Khatun, Gulnaz Parveen, Nazre Ali Khan, Mustaq Ahmed, Nasra Khatun, Badron Nisha, Jaha Alam, Nakibul Nisha, MD Gulab, Nazida Khatun, Jalal Khan, Mumtaz Khan, Zahida Khatun, Ekramul Haq, MD Bavik and Mawata Khan.

Juhi said many family members of the deceased have been infected with Covid-19 and are battling for their lives in the village.

"We have contacted each and every official of the Vaishali district administration but none of them has come to the village for treatment of Covid-19 patients. We have also informed our Legislator Tejashwi Yadav to help people of this village. An office employee of Tejashwi Yadav picked up the phone but he did nothing. We were expecting from him to at least call the Vaishali civil surgeon to organise a health camp in the village but it was not the case," Anwar said.

"The Mansukhpur village has one primary health centre but it was closed a long time ago. A health centre is also present in Chak Sikandar village panchayat but is shut permanently. In case of a medical emergency, we used to go to Hajipur for treatment," he added.

"My wife Juhi Parveen was elected as Head of Chak Sikandar village panchayat but she has no power to organise a health camp or even purchase equipment to sanitise the village. Under the provision of Panchayati Raj, the state government has allocated crores of funds for development of the village but the same Nitish Kumar government has not given any authority to us to expend it for public welfare," Anwar said.

"We want the Human Rights Commission and World Health Organisation to take cognizance of the matter and take appropriate action on it," Anwar added.