One more death due to contaminated drinking water in Kolkata
A five-year-old girl died in South Kolkata's Bhowanipur area on Tuesday morning after falling sick allegedly because of the consumption of piped drinking water which has been contaminated, taking the toll to two, an official of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) said. The incident happened in ward number 73, which is also the neighborhood of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Fifteen people are undergoing treatment in different hospitals
Ayushi Kumari, a resident of the KMC quarters at Sashi Sekhar Bose Row, was admitted to a nursing home on Monday after her condition deteriorated. She died around 7 am. Another resident of the quarters, Bhubaneswar Das died on Saturday after falling ill because of the same reason. "At present, 15 people are undergoing treatment at local hospitals," Ward 73 coordinator Ratan Malakar said.
Eleven inmates of Alipore Women's Correctional Home are also sick
An inmate of the Alipore Women's Correctional Home, which is in the same area, has also died allegedly because of the contaminated water. 11 others at the facility have fallen ill, sources said. However, jail officials were tight-lipped over the issue, saying that a team from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is scheduled to visit the correctional home to ascertain the exact cause.
Health Department is looking into the matter
"We have been supplying drinking water, ORS to families in the area since the water problem surfaced. We are looking into the matter. Officials of the Health Department are investigating the incident," said Malakar, a local TMC leader.
Resolve the crisis as soon as possible, residents urge
The residents of the area have urged the state government to intervene and resolve the crisis as soon as possible, amid the rising mercury levels. "We are financially not that stable to purchase drinking water every day. We are really very scared. We request the government to help us," a resident of the area said.
