With two more deaths, the toll in the alleged drinking water contamination case at Kavadigara Hatti in Chitradurga has gone up to five. As of Friday afternoon, 160 people were undergoing treatment and 12 had been discharged. Meanwhile, the Lokayukta has taken suo motu cognisance of the deaths and issued notices to seven officials, including the Secretary, Urban Development, and the Director of Municipal Administration.
In his order on Friday, Lokayukta B.S. Patil maintained that the right to access drinking water was a fundamental right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. Further, he said: “Prima facie, it indicates that there was failure or negligence on the part of the authorities concerned in providing pure and safe drinking water to residents.”
Those who died on Friday were identified as Rudrappa, 50, and Parvathamma, 75.
Twenty-two-year-old Usha, who was pregnant and also under treatment, gave birth to a stillborn baby on Friday. Residents of the village alleged that this was owing to an illness she developed after consuming contaminated water.
A bulletin released by the Department of Health and Family Welfare stated that so far 177 cases had been reported, including 19 fresh cases on Friday.
The Chitradurga district administration collected samples of water from the locality and the houses of patients. The biological analysis of the samples concluded that the water supplied in the locality was unfit for consumption. However, the chemical analysis did not find traces of poison in the sample.
It is still a mystery as to why only residents of the Old Dalit Colony in the area were affected, when the entire settlement had been getting water from one source— an overhead tank. The local people have raised doubts about the laboratory reports and demanded re-test.
“We are investigating the case. A team of experts from the Health and Family Welfare Department is also probing the issue,” Superintendent of Police, Chitradurga, K. Parashuram told The Hindu.
Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment A. Narayanaswamy, who represents Chitradurga in the Lok Sabha, visited the locality.
