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Karnataka: Contaminated water kills 3 in Chitradurga, villagers protest
Residents of Kavadigarahatti village in Chitradurga district, Bengaluru, staged a protest after three people died and 122 others fell ill due to contaminated water. The cause of contamination is still under investigation. The village has been supplied with alternate water sources and a makeshift hospital has been set up to treat the affected residents. The district administration has suspended several officials in connection with the incident.
Bengaluru
Residents of Kavadigarahatti village in Chitradurga district staged a protest on Thursday after the death of three people, allegedly due to consumption of contaminated water. The number of affected people touched 122 on Thursday.
The deceased have been identified as Manjula (23), Raghu (27) and Praveen. Manjula was admitted to the hospital after she complained of diarrhoea on the night of July 30. She died the next day. Raghu had returned to Bengaluru, where he worked at a private firm, on July 31. He developed serious symptoms and died on August 1. Praveen, who had visited his relatives in the village on July 30, died at Vaddara Siddanahalli.
As many as 122 people are currently undergoing treatment at different hospitals in the district, with seven people in intensive care unit (ICU). On Thursday morning alone, at least 10 people complained of vomiting and diarrhoea.
Chitradurga Deputy Commissioner Divya Prabhu GRJ said that while there were “rumours” that the water was poisoned, there is no evidence to corroborate the claims. “There are rumours regarding the poisoning of the water tank. But there is no evidence so far. We are awaiting the FLS report and further investigation is underway,” she said.
Chitradurga superintendent of police K Parashuram said: “In the FSL report No poisonous content was found in the deceased’s viscera and the sample water which was collected in the deceased’s and other patients’ house.”
Raghu’s mother, Vimalamma said, “My son was in Bengaluru. He came here to take care of me. On the same day, he drank contaminated water. If he had not come, he would be alive today,” she said as tears welled up.
The residents of the 17th ward expressed outrage by blocking the road and stopping vehicles on the bypass that connects NH-13 and NH-14 on Thursday. They alleged that the district administration provided no compensation to the families of the deceased and failed to respond to their woes. “The promise made by the DC before the funeral has not been fulfilled so far,” the villagers said.
Police said that on Monday evening, they received information from the district hospital that several residents from Kavadigarahatti village were being rushed to the facility for treatment after they developed severe symptoms of vomiting and diarrhoea.
Following the incident, the water supplied by the city municipality was stopped and alternate arrangements were made, officials said.
Amid the rise in the number of people falling ill, residents protested against municipal council and district administration over alleged lack of facilities.
The residents alleged that even after four days after the incident, Chitradurga Congress MLA KC Veerendra, Union Minister A Narayanaswamy and chief minister Siddaramaiah didn’t visit the spot, fuelling protests. The delay in the arrival of the water tanker by 11 hours on Thursday escalated the villagers’ anger. Chitradurga Tahsildar Nagaveni also faced the residents’ ire.
Sub-divisional magistrate Karthik visited the spot on Thursday and heard the grievances of the people. The police also provided security to the house of municipal councillor Jayanna amid the outrage.
There are 735 houses in Kavadigarahatti and 220 houses have been supplied with contaminated water, according to officials. “The locality has one overhead tank and water is supplied to seven streets. The cases have been reported from three streets and all those are who fell ill are from the SC community,” Chitradurga DC Divya Prabhu said.
The health department has marked the streets that have been supplied contaminated water as “red zones”. A makeshift hospital with 18 staff including doctors has been set up at the village, to provide aid round the clock. 20 ASHA workers have also been deployed to conduct door-to-door survey.
Meanwhile, the biological analysis of samples collected from the three deaths revealed that the water supplied between July 30 and August 1 was “unfit for consumption.” According to the report, Vibrio species of bacteria were grown in culture. The report mentioned that similar microorganisms have been found in the vomit and dysentery of the other residents of the village, who fell ill after drinking contaminated water.
Chitradurga DC ordered suspension of a pump operator and a Group D employee, CH Prakash Babu, and of Assistant Executive Engineer Manjunath R Girarddi and Junior Engineer Kiran of Municipal Corporation, following the incident.
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