VILLUPURAM: Over the past week, 20 residents of a village near Kandamangalam in Villupuram fell sick after drinking the water supplied by the panchayat, which was later found to be contaminated with drainage water, due to a leakage in the pipeline. The incident happened at Navamal Maruthur Colony, where around 5,000 people reside.
As multiple individuals suffered vomiting and diarrhoea and were hospitalised within a week, the villagers doubted the quality of the drinking water. On Monday, they informed the panchayat officials and a medical team arrived here on Tuesday. Officials said a team, led by Block Medical Officer (BMO) Dr R Arthee, and a mobile medical team led by Dr Karthikeyan, camped at the village and confirmed that drinking water was the cause of the ailments among the residents.
The water sample was sent for testing and the health department advised the panchayat to halt the supply of water through the pipeline. The panchayat officials, upon inspection, discovered that the pipeline was damaged. Chlorine-treated water was distributed to the village through tanker lorries. During this period, residents were advised to refrain from using the pipeline water for drinking and cooking purposes. The pipeline was promptly repaired.
The BMO said, "Eight patients have already been discharged from the hospital, and the remaining are recovering well. Over the course of our three-day medical camp, we conducted door-to-door inspections and administered medicines to nearly 150 individuals facing health issues." Meanwhile, on Thursday, Vanur MLA M Chakrapani visited the village to assess the situation and discussed the measures taken with the officials.