BANGALORE: A two-year-old boy died due to alleged water contamination at Chalavadipalya Ward in Jagjeevan Ram Nagar on Thursday. Following the incident, the residents of the locality staged a protest in front of J J Nagar police station and demanded compensation. They urged the officials to take stern action against the officers concerned.
The victim, Chandan, was a son of Narasimhaiah and Yashoda, native of Andhra Pradesh.
Chandan’s parents said they admitted him to a hospital after he complained of diarrhoea and nausea. Reportedly, the victim failed to respond to the treatment and died on early hours of Thursday.
Irked by the lackadaisical attitude of BBMP and BWSSB, the residents condemned that none of the civic body authorities had visited the spot. Reportedly, water pipeline was under repair and drinking water had mixed with sewage, and residents of Jagjeevan Ram Nagar had been consuming it for the past couple of days.
“Chandan drank tap water and fell ill. Drinking water in our locality is mixed with sewage, but no action has been taken so far. Though he was hospitalised at St Mary Hospital on Tuesday, he died on early hours of Thursday,” said Chandan’s father. Congress leader from J J Nagar Althaf Khan met the residents and assured them to help.
“The hospital authorities informed that over 20 people had been affected by water-borne diseases in the last couple of days. We have summoned the BBMP health officials to provide an explanation and give compensation to the victim’s family. Due to leakage in the drainage pipe, sewage had mixed with drinking water. The reason behind the incident is water contamination,” Althaf Khan said.
BBMP Health Officer Devaki Umesh said, “Our officials will look into the matter. Water samples have been collected. BWSSB was informed about the incident and steps will be taken to prevent such incidents in the future.”