GUNTUR : Commissioner and director of municipal administration Srikesh B Lathkar instructed officials of the Guntur Municipal Corporation to collect water from every household and check the chlorine levels in it. He directed them to educate people on not using stagnant water for any purpose. Water and food samples from all households will be tested to identify the root cause of the incident, he added.
After over 70 people fell sick in a few colonies in the city after allegedly drinking contaminated water, the commissioner, along with civic chief Kirthi Chekuri and special officer Tenali sub-collector Prakhar Jain, visited the affected areas and inspected the water pipeline connections on Tuesday.
Further, Lathkar reviewed the records of the process of chlorination and the chlorine levels in the reservoirs for the past 10 days. He also interacted with the patients receiving treatment at the local UPHC.
As many as seven medical camps have been set up in Sarada Colony, Lanchester Road, and IPD Colony. Engineering officials have also been appointed to inspect all water pipelines in the region. Action will be taken to lay new pipelines on a war-footing if any leakages are identified, the commissioner explained.
During the survey, many people reportedly informed the GMC chief that they were consuming water purchased from the nearby RO plants. Subsequently, Kirthi Chekuri directed the officials to conduct inspections and issue advisories to the operators of all RO plants in the region and submit a thorough report in the earliest.
Following the instructions of Health Minister Vidadala Rajini, and district Collector Venugopal Reddy, citizens in the affected colonies are being informed about the water supply through tankers.