Raichur: A three-year-old boy died after drinking contaminated water in Rekalmaradi village in Devagurga taluk in Raichur district. More than 50 people fell ill in the village after consuming the contaminated water, officials said.
On Thursday, around 25 people were taken to primary health center as they suffered vomiting and loose motion and on Friday the number increased to more than 30.
According to Raichur district health officer Dr. Surendra Babu, women and children were infected the most as they were at home and consumed tap water mixed with drain water. He added that all the infected were rushed to PHC at Devagurga and the critically ill were taken to RIMS at Raichur.
Due to rise in temperature the borewells in the village went dry and all the three RO plants which the gram panchayat had set up are not working. Because of this, People are depending on private borewells and panchayat tap connection from where they get water once in 15-20 days, villagers said.
According to the villagers, the underground pipeline that supplies water to taps burst and drain water got mixed with tap water on Thursday. After taking this contaminated water, people fell ill.
“The infected were injected with IV fluids as they were dehydrated. We regret not being able to save three-year-old boy Hanumesh; he died due to continuous vomiting and loose motion. He was brought to hospital late; he would have survived had IV fluid been given. The rest are recovering,” Dr. Babu said. “Necessary medicine and IV fluids are being given at the PHC. All the infected may be discharged on Monday.”
He added that such incidents are common in Kalyan Karnataka region where drinking water is being supplied to every village through tankers in summers. Tap water is not supplied as groundwater level goes down. “The sample of the contaminated water that people drank was sent to a Bengaluru laboratory for testing,” he said.
Ramesh Karoshi, a villager from Rekalmaradi blamed Devagurga panchayat for the tragedy, He said, “Despite dozens of representations the panchayat officials did not respond. The underground pipeline got broken about a month ago. As the village is being supplied tap water once in 15-20 days, people used the water supplied on Thursday and Friday.”
Karoshi said that the broken underground pipeline was replaced and ROs were made functional after the tragedy. “The administration which did not care despite many petitions has now woken up. We would have saved Hanumesh had the administration been sincere,” he said.
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Karwar/Tumakuru: Government offices in three Karnataka towns were placed on high alert on Tuesday after bomb threat emails were received by the tahsildar offices in Karwar and Bhatkal, and the deputy commissioner’s office in Tumakuru.
According to a report published by Deccan Herald, police officials said all three emails originated from a single email ID and contained claims of “revenge from Tamilians and Pakistanis.” Following the threats, security agencies immediately swung into action and the premises were evacuated and thoroughly searched.
Teams from the local police, bomb disposal squad and dog squad were deployed at all locations. Authorities have confirmed that no suspicious objects or explosives were found. They called the threats a hoax, after extensive checks.
Uttara Kannada Superintendent of Police Deepan M N said precautionary measures were taken as per protocol to ensure public safety. “A detailed search was conducted at all the mentioned offices, but nothing incriminating was found,” he said.
Police have begun efforts to trace the source of the emails and identify the sender while security around key government buildings in the affected districts was heightened as a precaution, officials added.
