Amid a heated debate among the members of Raichur City Municipal Council (CMC), the civic body has decided to pay a compensation of ₹10 lakh each to the families of three people who died after drinking contaminated water.
The decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the general body convened to discuss the issue on Tuesday. The meeting also resolved to repair the water pump at the Chikkasugur water purification plant.
As the meeting started, Srinivas Reddy and Basavaraj Patil Darur, members of the civic body, demanded that the authorities give a valid reason that forced the civic authorities to supply contaminated water to the people of Raichur, which led to the death of three people and caused vomiting and diarrhoea in over hundreds of people.
“Most of the members of the CMC don’t know about the problem. You are bringing the issue to our notice only after three people lost their lives when they drank contaminated water,” they told the officials.
Responding to them, Commissioner of the civic body Rurulingappa said that the technical officer supplied the contaminated water to the people without bringing it to his notice.
“The lower-level officer knew that there was a problem in the purification unit. The water storing unit should have been dredged. But, he did not bring it to our notice. He simply let the contaminated water flow to the city,” he said.
Jayanna, another member of the CMC, demanded that the CMC pay treatment expenses for those who are admitted to hospital after consuming the contaminated water. The meeting then decided to pay ₹20,000 each to those who are admitted to hospital.
E. Shashiraj, another member, said that around 10 ft silt was accumulated in the water purification plant near Rampur Tank from where drinking is supplied to 14 wards in the city and the officials never bothered to dredge it.
The meeting was presided over by president of the CMC Lalita Kadagol.
Three people died after drinking the contaminated tap water supplied by the CMC in the last 10 days. The first death was reported on May 29, the second on June 3 and the third was on June 4. Over 70 people have been admitted to the hospital with complaints of vomiting and diarrhoea.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had, on Monday, announced a compensation of ₹5 lakh to the families of the deceased. The State Government has also kept the Assistant Executive Engineer of the CMC under suspension and ordered investigation into the incident.
