With number of deaths due to diarrhoea and cholera in Orissa's Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput (KBK) districts and more specifically Rayagada district on the rise, the state government on Monday pressed the Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), specialised in search and rescue operations during disasters, to bring in patients from inaccessible areas.

In a re-run of the 2007 cholera outbreak in which 150 people died in Rayagada alone, 49 people have died in the district due to cholera and diarrhoea till now.

Despite the administration pressing more medical teams to the affected areas in Rayagada, many more were reported sick. About 666 patients from 102 villages have been treated over the past weeks in the district.

The near-epidemic situation in the districts has been caused by contaminated water. In Rayagada, six persons have died since Sunday while three died in Gajapati district.

The announcement doubling cash incentive to bring in patients from interior villages have had little effect on the deathtoll.

The Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asked state Health and Family Welfare Minister Prasana Acharya and Health Secretary Anu Garg to rush to Rayagada.