KENDRAPARA: Health officials on Friday detected the presence of Escherichia coli (E coli) bacteria in the water samples of two villages under Rajnagar block of Kendrapara district where two persons including a woman died recently of suspected gastroenteritis.
The deceased are 45-year-old Saraswati Baral of Belapal village and Ajit Dehuri (50) of Manapada village. Both had complained of loose motion on August 1 following which they were shifted to Rajnagar community health centre (CHC) where they succumbed during treatment.
Medical officer of Rajnagar CHC Dr Rashmiranjan Mohanty said after death of the two persons, water samples were collected from overhead tanks of both the villages for examination during which the presence of E coli was detected.
“E coli is a type of bacterium that is found in the intestine of humans and warm-blooded animals besides in faeces. The presence of the bacterium in water is a strong indicator of faecal contamination from sewage or animal waste. This happens when the contaminated particles get washed into water tanks, bore water system or other water sources during rainfall,” said Mohanty adding, an emergency team of doctors has been formed to treat the 20 affected patients from both the villages. He further informed that officials of the Health and Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) departments have started to disinfect tube wells and overhead water tanks. “The disinfection process would be repeated again after a week,” the health officer added.
Meanwhile, villagers alleged the situation occurred due to negligence on part of the RWSS department officials in disinfecting the tanks and tube wells regularly. “Some contractors in a clear nexus with the RWSS officials have dug shallow tube wells instead of deeper ones owing to which the quality of water is poor. This leads to several water-borne diseases. Besides, some tube wells are totally non-functional,” they complained.