The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Fear of acute diarrhoeal disease outbreak looms

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 08, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Fear of acute diarrhoeal disease outbreak looms

Staff Reporter

Residents in north Chennai complain that the drinking water supplied in the area is contaminated by sewage

Residents make appeal to Metrowater, and Corporation
Health officials held a medical camp for the affected people

— Photo: M. Vedhan.

THE CAUSE: Residents of Govind Singh Street in Pulianthope with containers of discoloured drinking water on Friday.

Chennai: Residents of two pockets of north Chennai are worried about the outbreak of acute diarrhoeal disease (ADD) in their localities.

In the last few days, there has been a spurt in the number of ADD cases in Kailasapuram in Tondiarpet zone and Govind Singh Street in Pulianthope zone. Residents complained that the drinking water supplied in the area was contaminated by sewage.

On Friday, residents of Govind Singh Street, led by Park Town MLA K. Srinivasan, demanded that Chennai Metrowater and Chennai Corporation engineers take immediate action to solve the problem.

Since September 1, six residents of the street have been admitted to the Communicable Diseases Hospital. S. Shyamala, a resident, said, “The water we pump every morning is cloudy and has a foul smell.” The problem is compounded during the rains when water stagnates on the road.

Later in the day, Metrowater disconnected piped water supply in the area and made arrangements to provide water through tankers till the sewage leak was located and repaired. Flushing operations would be carried out in the pipeline. The Chennai Corporation has cleaned the area and sprayed disinfectant. The Corporation’s health officials held a medical camp on the street and gave antibiotic tablets for those who required treatment.

The problem of sewage contamination in drinking water is also faced by residents of Kailasapuram in Tondiarpet. The density of mosquitoes is high in the area and a resident has contracted malaria. The Corporation health officials who visited the locality on Friday said fogging operations would be intensified.

Power cuts

Residents of Govind Singh Street also suffered frequent power cuts. “We go without power for about four hours on most days”, said Radhakrishnan, a resident. They are worried that the situation would get worse during monsoon. They have urged the local councillor to take measures.

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