BHUBANESWAR : The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) will initiate action against the developer of Trident Galaxy apartments for failing to comply with the sanitation norms of the civic body and not making the waste water treatment facility properly functional, said mayor Sulochana Das on Monday.
The mayor, who along with an expert team of BMC, visited the site on the day following complaints regarding outbreak of diarrhoea, jaundice and other gastrointestinal illnesses in the residential complex, said groundwater contamination due to the defunct sewage treatment plant and poor solid waste management, has triggered the diseases in the community.
A large residential township in Kalinga Nagar, Trident Galaxy has around 1,236 flats. Residents of the apartment project alleged they are facing a serious public health emergency owing to groundwater contamination for the last three months.
Trident Galaxy Residents’ Welfare Association secretary Lokanath Sahu alleged since groundwater is the only source of potable water, nearly 60 pc residents in their community have experienced gastrointestinal illnesses including jaundice and hepatitis in the last three months.
“The problem started towards March third week and after water samples were sent to RMRC here, it was confirmed that groundwater contamination is the cause of health issues among the residents,” Sahu said adding, seven to eight persons are still undergoing treatment for diarrhoea, jaundice and other illnesses. Sahu also pointed out that though they have been living in the apartment project for over a decade, there is no public water supply facility for them.
The mayor said they will ask the builder as to why it has not facilitated municipal water facility for the residents. “The BMC will not grant permission to the builder concerned to take up another real estate project, which it has planned close to Trident Galaxy, till it addresses the concerns of the residents of the existing project,” Das said.