About 150 people fall ill after consuming contaminated water in Himachal Pradesh

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As many as 150 people in Rangas, Kandrola, and Jol-Sappad panchayats of the Nadaun sub-division of Hamirpur district in Himachal Pradesh fell ill allegedly after consuming contaminated water. The drinking water was being supplied from a drinking water scheme from the nearby khads.

According to reports, people from a dozen villages, including Banh, Jandgi Gujran, Jandali Rajputan, Panyala, Pathiyalu, Niyati, Rangas Chowki Haar, Thain and Sankar have been affected by the outbreak of water-borne diseases and the number is expected to go up. Patients from these villages were complaining of vomiting and diarrhoea for the last three days, alleging that consuming contaminated water led to the problem.

Block medical officer (BMO) Dr KK Sharma said that three teams of the health department were sent to the spot. Of these, two teams have been sent from Nadaun hospital and one from Rail hospital. Patients are being treated and water samples have been collected and sent for examination. The reason behind the spread of diarrhoea will be known after the report comes in, he said.

Chief Medical Officer (Hamirpur) RK Agnihotri said that efforts are afoot to provide proper treatment to the people who have fallen ill. District Health Officer Sanjay Jagota has advised the people to drink boiled water till the disease is controlled and said that Chlorine tablets were also being distributed to ensure the cleanliness of the water sources from where the water is supplied to these villages. The Asha workers are also going door-to-door collecting details of the patients and instructing them to take precautions.

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Ilam Din, a member of Rangas Panchayat, said that he started getting calls from villagers on Saturday morning and it seems that more than 150 people are suffering from stomach-related diseases. Similar complaints are also being reported from the adjoining Kandrola panchayat.

Fandi Khan, former deputy head of Rangas gram panchayat, said the number of patients could be more. "The condition of the elderly people there is bad and no team of the health department has reached the area," he said.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who is also the MLA from Naudan, has directed the district administration and the health department to take proper care of the patients and ensure that there was no shortage of medicines and other items.

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