A total of 21 people in Kuntanala village of Ballari district fell ill on Tuesday after drinking contaminated water, officials said. A temporary health camp has been established in the village to treat those suffering from vomiting and nausea. A few patients have been transferred to the Vijayanagara Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) Hospital in Ballari.
Dr. H L Janardhan, the district health officer of Ballari district, and Dr. Mohan Kumari, the taluk health officer of Ballari taluk, visited Ballari to collect water samples from the Vedavati river. Samples have been sent to the laboratory for testing. Currently, Kuntanala village in the Ballari district receives drinking water from tankers.
Officials report that two patients at the local hospital and three patients at VIMS are both getting treatment. Officials stated that 13 individuals have been treated and that the village of Kuntanal had established an emergency treatment facility. “Three kids and their father reported seeing them vomiting in a home. While the father is receiving medical treatment, the three children have been treated and released, according to a local hospital doctor.
On March 25, after one farmer complained of vomiting and diarrhea, the first incidence of gastroenteritis was recorded.
Ballari district health director Dr. H. L. Janardhan and taluk health officer Dr. Mohan Kumari visited the village and collected water samples from the Vedavati river, which they then sent to a lab for analysis. Tankers are currently used to deliver potable water to the village.
According to DHO Dr. L Janardhan, “Health officials hurried to the village as soon as they heard the news and collected drinking water samples. In laboratory analysis, we got verified that drinking water contamination is the primary cause of illness. We immediately established a six-bed emergency facility at Valmiki Bhavan in Kuntanala village, and a medical crew is camped out there”.
Three to five individuals report having diarrhea every day, and the physicians at Valmiki Bhavan are helping them. Since the people who are drinking filtered water also became sick, we have done more research. We’ll keep the facility open until there are no more cases reported in the community, he said.
In the past, the gram panchayat supplied water that had been chlorinated in containers using water from the Vedavati River. According to Prakash C Amar Shetty, the development manager for the Rupagnaudi gram panchayat, “We are now providing drinking water through trucks. The Vedavati waterway, he claimed, provides potable water for the village’s 3,324 residents. So far, only one person from ten households has reported having gastroenteritis. The matter is being looked into by the health authorities. Under JJM, a new water purification facility would be built in the village, and construction is already in progress”.
