GUNTUR: With five more people dying due to diarrhoea in the city on Wednesday, the death toll increased to eight since the outbreak of the disease two days ago. Three persons died at the Guntur Government General Hospital and one each at two private hospitals.
The victims were identified as K Samrajyam of Gudivari Street, Sk Ghouse and K Venkata Rao of Balaji Nagar, Padmavati of Sangadigunta and C Balakoti Reddy of Jiyauddin Nagar.
The residents of Old Guntur, Anandpet, Ali Nagar, Rajavarithota, Bara Imam, Sangadigunta, Punja and Ponnuru Road areas were severely affected by diarrhoea caused due to consumption of contaminated water. Some cases of fever and gastroenteritis were also reported from these areas.
P Feroze, a resident of Pothurivarithota who is undergoing treatment at the Guntur GGH, demanded that the civic officials take immediate steps to lay new pipelines to check the spread of diarrhoea.
“I have been suffering from loose motions and fever frequently,” said 16-year-old D Hanumantha Rao, a resident of Redla Bazar.
Two more persons - Sk Jilani (38) of Sangadigunta and K Raju (35) of Chuttugunta - said they were suffering from vomitings, loose motions and fever.
Officials of the engineering and sanitation departments, Guntur Municipal Corporation, conducted a door-to-door survey in the early of hours of Wednesday and collected more than 500 water samples from households.
GMC SE D Marianna said, “We have taken up super-chlorination to kill bacteria after stopping drinking water supply to households in the affected areas.”
The GMC officials also took up a campaign to free the clogged drains and clean them them up in the affected areas, he said and added 50 tankers were pressed into service to supply drinking water brought from other places. MHO Ch Sobha Rani said special health camps were being organised in the affected areas.
Water contamination blamed
Locals said decades-old pipelines in the city were damaged, resulting in the sewage from drains flowing into the drinking water supply system
Sapped of energy after loose motions, vomiting and fever, they were rendered too weak to speak
Doctors said they were responding well to treatment
Guntur GGH superintendent Dr DS Raju Naidu says they are waiting for culture test reports