CHENNAI: At least 200 residents of The Metrozone apartments in Anna Nagar have fallen sick over the past week, experiencing diarrhoea, nausea, and vomiting, allegedly due to water contamination.
Inspection by Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) and Greater Chennai Corporation officials, along with the health department officers, revealed contamination in a 3-lakh litre capacity sump, which stores water obtained from CMWSSB and private suppliers. The sump had blackish sludge and seepage, the officials said.
The majority of the residents in the apartment complex, which houses around 1,200 units across 19 blocks, rely on the water supplied from the sump, which they use for cooking and drinking after purifying it through RO systems.
A 52-year-old resident said, “A few people had been falling sick over the past 15 days, with my daughter experiencing diarrhoea and nausea. But the number of affected individuals has increased to at least 200, including kids, since Sunday.”
Officials inspected the complex on Monday and collected water samples for testing. Subsequently, the GCC conducted health camps in the complex. Samples collected from the CMWSSB’s supply source have come clean, the officials said.
Inspection reportedly showed that blackish water was getting into the sump through an inlet, the source of which is not yet known. The apartment’s residents association has been instructed to clean the sump, RO systems, and tanks and submit proof of disinfection. Meanwhile, food safety officials have been asked to collect samples from drinking water cans being supplied by vendors to a section of residents.