VIJAYAWADA: The locals of Moghalrajpuram here are worried over the sudden outbreak of diarrhea amid reports that one person died and two dozen persons fell sick from contaminated drinking water supplied through pipes by the civic body.
Officials of the VMC’s health, sanitation and other departments inspected the area on Tuesday and started efforts to control the spread of diarrhea.
According to reports, one person from Moghalrajpuram died of diarrhea suspectedly due to use of contaminated water. Subsequently, reports emerged of over two dozen people being hospitalised with diarrhea symptoms. This sent the residents of Moghalarajpuram into a tizzy and they are fearful of consuming the drinking water supplied by the VMC.
The VMC collected the water samples and sent them for testing. Preliminary testing reports of the water samples from the area, however, showed no sign of contamination.
On Tuesday, VMC chief Swapnil Dinkar Pundkar visited the Moghalrajpuram area and took stock of the sanitation and drinking water facilities in the area. VMC has collected 16 water samples from the surrounding areas. Test samples have shown a residual chlorine (RC) level of 0.5 ppm, which met the safety standards of drinking water.
The civic body decided to supply drinking water to the area through tankers for two days till the final report of water samples came from the Guntur central laboratory.
VMC said a comprehensive door-to-door survey of 802 families in the Moghalarajpuram found no acute cases of diarrhea. The change in climatic conditions could be the reason behind people falling ill, officials claimed.
The VMC took up an awareness programme for the public, urging them to drink only boiled water and consume freshly prepared food for some time.
