CHENNAI: Two residents died and 33 others fell ill due to suspected water contamination in the Pallavaram Cantonment and nearby areas on Wednesday.
The deceased were identified as Thiruveethi (54), a temporary resident of Kamaraj Nagar originally from Mangadu, and M Mohanarangam (43) of Mariyamman Koil Street, Pallavaram.
Hospital sources said that residents of Pallavaram Cantonment, Malaimedu, and Kamaraj Nagar presented with symptoms of vomiting and diarrhoea late Wednesday night.
Doctors said that the symptoms were consistent with both food poisoning and water contamination and the reason for deaths can be ascertained only after the post mortem.
A total of 35 affected individuals sought medical care at Chromepet Government Hospital (GH), where 18 patients (9 men and 9 women) were admitted, and 14 were treated as outpatients and discharged.
One critically ill patient, Karpagam (75), was referred to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital for advanced treatment and is reportedly stable.
Two others, Parthiban (37) and Pavithra (35) chose to leave the hospital for treatment at a private facility despite medical advice.
Local residents claimed that another resident, Varalakshmi (88), also died after consuming the contaminated water. However, medical staff at Chromepet GH denied this and said that only two deaths occurred in connection with the alleged contamination and that the death of the 88-year-old was due to age related ailments.
Ministers TM Anbarasan and Ma Subramanian, Chenagalpattu district collector S Arunraj, Pallavaram MLA E Karunanidhi, Tambaram City Municipal Corporation (TCMC) Mayor Vasanthakumari Kamalakannan, and TCMC Commissioner S Balachander visited Chromepet GH to check on the patients.
The relatives of the inpatients said that the sewage from the highrise buildings could have been mixing with the drinking water supply pipelines.
Residents also said that they noted a distinct change in colour of the drinking water on Wednesday.
TCMC officials said that water supplied to the area is procured from Metro Water and is regularly tested. They emphasised that the affected neighbourhoods fall under the jurisdiction of the Cantonment Board, which also sources water from Metro Water.
They further added that if there is water contamination, the number of affected residents would be much higher.