VALPOI: Over the last three days, an unusually high number of gastroenteritis cases have been reported among villagers of Brahmakarmali in Sattari taluka. This has raised concerns among health officials, who have collected water samples from the village for testing.
At least 30 villagers, including children from Brahmakarmali under the jurisdiction of Nagargao village panchayat, have been turning up over the past three days at the community health centre, Valpoi, complaining of vomiting and stomach pain.
Medical officer at the CHC, Dr Shyam Kankonkar told TOI that after seeing an abnormally high number of villagers visiting the health centre with similar complaints, a health team was sent to Bharamakarmali on Wednesday to take stock of the situation. “Samples from all sources of drinking water in the village, like taps, stream and spring, have been collected and stool samples have also been collected,” Kankonkar said.
Kankonkar said that the samples have been sent to Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) cell at Panaji and the reports of the same are awaited.
The health team also interacted with villagers and advised them to take precautions with drinking water. The team told the villagers to boil the water before drinking and also asked them to immediately contact the CHC doctors if anyone takes ill.
It is learnt that the number of the affected villagers may be even higher than the reported numbers as many villagers have also consulted private hospitals in Valpoi.
The case of Brahmakarmali is second such instance being reported from Sattari and from a village under Nagargao panchayat. Four years ago, villagers of the remote hamlet of Shelop Budruk had similarly taken ill in large numbers and later the water being consumed by the villagers was found to be contaminated.
Shelop Budruk residents were seen resorting to open defecation due to the lack of toilets and were also found to be consuming contaminated water from a local stream in the absence of treated water supply. TOI had reported on November 25, 2020, that Shelop Budruk residents continue to defecate in the open and drink water from untreated sources, even after assurances from authorities that facilities of toilet and treated water would be provided for.