Hyderabad/ Nizamabad: Three persons including two children died and 300 have been hospitalised in Nizamsagar mandal of Kamareddy district, after drinking water suspected of being contaminated. They suffered severe diarrhoea and vomiting after attending a function in Mugdumpur village on Tuesday. Health officials in Kamareddy are verifying whether the water was ground water or water supplied through Mission Bhagiratha.
The two children who died are four-year-old Salitadigari Ruchita of Komalancha village in Nizamsagar mandal, and seven-year-old Dadge Satyanarayana of Annaram village in Pitlam mandal.
The third person was 33-three-year-old Gajula Sunita of Bhujarangpet in Koudipally mandal in Medak district.
Enquiries by the district health official elicited the information that there was a large gathering of people at a function in Mugdumpur village and that the water supplied for the function is suspected of being contaminated and the reason for the outbreak of diarrhoea.
A senior health official in the state department, where the initial report was submitted, explained, “There are six bore wells from where the water is drawn and there is also drinking water supplied by the government. Both these water sources have to be checked.”
Immediately after the function the victims complained of loose motions and vomiting. It was also found that after the function many people had consumed ice-cream supplied by a local ice-cream vendor. This too is being checked out.
Those most severely affected were taken to a government area hospital in Banswada and the Government General Hospital in Nizamabad.
Medical and health department officials rushed to Komalancha, Mugdumpur and Galipur villages and set up medical camps. Senior officials from the director of health’s office in Hyderabad have also gone to check on the patients and the treatment being given.
Kamareddy district collector N. Satyanarayana reviewed the situation and directed a team of officials to visit the affected villages.
Kamareddy district medical and health officer G Chandrasekhar, Mission Bhagiratha superintending engineer Rajendra Kumar, and Banswada RDO Rajeshwar checked the water supply pipelines and drainage in the villages.
Kamareddy district collector N. Satyanarayana told this newspaper that water supply has been stopped to the three affected villages from the water grid. There is no water contamination from the grid and internal pipe line leakages are suspected in the incident, he said.
“We have been supplying water through tankers to the victims,” he said. The report on the water samples will come on Wednesday and the exact reason for the outbreak will then be established, he said.
