Boy dies, over 100 ill from water contamination in Karauli district

JAIPUR: A 12-year-old boy died and at least 109 persons were admitted to hospitals with vomiting and diarrhoea caused by alleged contamination of drinking water supplied to a pocket of Karauli district from government-run PHED pipelines.
While the patients, including 30 kids, have been streaming into hospitals in Hindaun, Karauli and Jaipur from the affected Shahganj area in the past three days, the boy died at home Tuesday morning.
"The boy had diarrhoea and had taken medicines from a local doctor. When his condition deteriorated, he was taken to the district hospital in Hindaun where he was declared brought dead," Karauli DM Ankit Singh told TOI after meeting some of the patients.
Water from the pipelines has been stopped for now, samples have been sent for checks and the report is awaited, the DM said, adding tankers had been deployed to meet the needs.
The source of the contamination is not yet clear. "This pipeline system is almost 40 years old. We have to check how did the water got contaminated. There are also chances that the residents might have used additional boosters that had led to the contamination. Investigation is on," Arun Gupta, superintendent engineer, Kalwar Circle, said.
The health department is surveying over 750 homes in the area to find out if more people have such symptoms and require treatment.
"Thirty-five adults and 14 children are still in hospital," said Dr Pushpendra Gupta, principal medical officer, Hindaun. Some of the patients were referred to Karauli and Jaipur in the past few days and 10 discharged, Gupta added