9-month-old baby dies, 57 ill after drinking impure water in Karnataka's Kanakagiri

KOPPAL: A nine-month-old baby died of gastroenteritis in Basarihala village of Kanakagiri taluk on Tuesday, while 45 people were admitted to hospital after drinking contaminated water.
A total 57 people have so far been hospitalised with gastroenteritis in the area over the last one week.
The child, Shruti Laydunasi, was taken to Tavaragera Urus in Kushtagi taluk, by her parents, where she started vomiting and was down with dysentery. She later died.
Those who fell ill were admitted to hospitals in Kanakagiri, Sindhanur, Gangavati and Musalapur. Temporary health centres have been set up at the villages to address the crisis, local authorities said.
The problem started in Bijakal village about a week ago, while in Jumalapur village, people started reporting symptoms of gastroenteritis last Saturday.
According to reports, villagers cut open the water supply pipe at the ground level after the drinking water taps had run dry in the backyard of the government senior primary school of Basarihal.
This led to contamination, triggering acute gastroenteritis, said Kanakagiri tahsildar Sanjay Kamble.
"In Jumalapur village, the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) project pipe was cut and the water apparently got contaminated. A sample has been sent for testing," said zilla panchayat CEO Rahul Ratnam Pandey.
"Had the child been brought to the hospital as soon as she fell sick, her life could have been saved," he added.
Kushtagi taluk panchayat executive officer Shivappa Subedara and taluk health officer Dr Anand Goturu have visited the villages. "All assistance has been provided for the treatment of those who have taken ill. The gram panchayat and health department staffers have been told to take all necessary precautions," Dr Goturu said.
"Alternative sources of drinking water have been arranged for the people in the villages and gram panchayats have been instructed to supply free water to the RO (filtration) plants. The authorities have also been told to repair the pipeline that had been cut open," executive officer Shivappa Subedara said.
Commenting on the death of another villager, Honnamma, from Basarihal, Dr Alakananda K, the district health officer, said: "Doctors at the district hospital confirmed that both her kidneys were dysfunctional and she had died because of that." She was also suffering from heart disease and pneumonia, Dr Alakananda said.