KURNOOL: A day after it was reported that nearly 100 people from Gorakallu village in Panyam mandal, and a few localities in Adoni and Nandyal towns were hospitalised and four died due to suspected drinking water contamination, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy asked Health Minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas (Nani) to visit the affected areas and take stock of the situation.
Meanwhile, residents alleged that the civic bodies had been supplying them contaminated water even in places like Kurnool city, Nandyal, Adoni, Yemmiganur, Dhone, Atmakur, Nandikotkur, Allagadda and Guduru towns. Damaged and old pipelines, dirty overhead tanks and seldom chlorination are the primary causes of people falling sick, they said.
“As the pipelines are old, leakage in sewers is compounding the problem by contaminating the drinking water. Last year, the root of a tree was found during the cleaning of a water pipeline at Sanjeeva Nagar of Yemmiganur municipality,” a local said.
Acknowledging the problem, Adoni civic chief RG Krishna told TNIE that the pipelines in the town are old and some of them had leakages. Stating that the supply from Ramjala Lake has been stopped and that the water is now being drawn from Basapuram Summer Storage tank, he added: “We are now in the process of replacing the old pipelines with the new ones.”
Regional environmental engineer of AP Pollution Control Board, BY Muni Prasad, said the body would examine the water if any industrial waste discharge has polluted it. “However, water supply to the people is generally monitored by RWS, and Panchayat Raj in rural areas, and civic bodies in urban areas.” He said the PCB will monitor the quality of water supplied to residents of any area. At the district HQ, over 70,000 tap connections have been availed. Of them, at least 20 per cent are allegedly supplying contaminated water.