535 people in Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur district have fallen sick of water-borne diseases after allegedly consuming contaminated water from an under-construction tank.
Contaminated Water: Rajeev Kumar, Rangas Panchayat Head, told news agency PTI that the contaminated water was supplied unfiltered by the Jal Shakti Department and the bacteria from it led to “two to three people in every household” falling sick.
Affected Areas: Banh, Jandgi Gujran, Jandali Rajputan, Panyala, Pathiyalu, Niyati, Rangas Chowki Haar, Thain, and Sankar are some of the affected areas in the Nadaun sub-division of Hamirpur district.
Action Needed: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has ordered that proper treatment of the patients be ensured by the district administration and the health department, which is being supervised by Hamirpur’s Chief Medical Officer Dr RK Agnihotri.
The CM has also ordered a report on the water contamination from state and district-level agencies, PTI reported.
The water department has stopped the supply of the contaminated water, and in the meantime, has distributed bottled water in the affected areas. Samples of the contaminated water have also been sent for testing.
The patients have also been supplied essential medicines and ORS packets.
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