SRINAGAR: Over one hundred people from the Srigufwara area of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district were hospitalised after an outbreak of diarrhoea in Trail village, officials said on Saturday.
Officials said that a large number of people, including elderly individuals, in Trail village of Srigufwara suffered from loose motions and vomiting. Health teams were immediately dispatched to the area, and all the affected people have been admitted to health facilities.
“More than 100 residents are being treated for loose motions and vomiting. Unsafe or impure drinking water could be the cause, but test reports are yet to confirm this. The Health Department has set up a medical camp in the area,” officials said.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Anantnag, Syeed Fakhruddin Hamid, along with other officials, visited the village today following the outbreak.
Block Medical Officer (BMO) Sallar, Dr Zahoor Ahmad, told local news agency KNO that the number of infected people has reached 100, and all are stable. He said the infected people are being treated at three health facilities, and teams of medical professionals have been deployed in the village.
Dr Zahoor said that an awareness camp has been conducted, and teams from Srinagar have also visited the area. “Water test samples have been taken from eight places, and the results will be available soon. The most affected people are from the young and elderly age groups,” he added.
Locals alleged that the reservoir from which the drinking water is supplied to the area was kept open for a couple of days. They accused the Jal Shakti department of carelessness.
“We demand an investigation into why the water reservoir was kept open for two days. The reservoir is polluted, and there is no cleanliness at the site,” they alleged.
Sareer Wani, Executive Engineer of the Jal Shakti Department, Division Bijbehera, told KNO that the reservoir is closed but the filtration point remains open, as it does in other locations where there is a water supply scheme.
He said the water supply scheme serves water to almost ten villages, but only a single village was affected by the outbreak due to unknown reasons.
“Samples have been taken by the Jal Shakti Department from nearly 20 places for laboratory testing,” he added.
