Gastroenteritis claims four lives in Ahmedabad

Four people on Sunday died of diarrhoea and vomiting caused by contaminated drinking water in Ghoda village of Viramgam taluka, Ahmedabad district.

Of the four deceased, two are children aged two and five years, respectively. Another 68 people suffering from diarrhoea have been hospitalised in different hospitals of Viramgam.

The officials said the apparent reason for the outbreak of the disease seemed to be the contaminated water in the village wells which the villagers had consumed. However, to establish whether the water in the wells was contaminated or not, water samples from the wells had been sent to the laboratory for testing, the officials said.

In Ghoda village, which has a population of more than 3,000 people, open wells are the only source of potable water. Velabhai Senva, sarpanch of Ghoda village, said that there is also a borewell and sump in the village but people do not drink their water as it tastes sour.

Senva said the borewell’s water tastes sour because of leakage in the underground pipeline. “The problem has existed for around eight years now,” Senva said. “The last time we approached government officials, they promised us Narmada water instead of ordering the digging of a new borewell.”

The sarpanch said people had been using wells for generations but the current outbreak of disease was of recent origin. The first cases were reported a couple of days back but the situation deteriorated on Saturday with more people coming down with diarrhoea and vomiting.

Dr NJ Patel, chief district health officer of Ahmedabad, said that the health department had sent six teams comprising six doctors and 20 paramedical staff, to Ghoda village, for primary treatment to the affected villagers.