2 Die, 45 Ill In Union Minister's Constituency, Polluted Water Suspected

Two persons died and 45 were admitted in a hospital and a health centre apparently after drinking polluted water in Madhya Pradesh's Damoh. The area is under the Lok Sabha seat of Union minister of state for Jal Shakti, Pralhad Patel.

The two residents of Khanchari Pati village who died before team of health department arrived, were an elderly man and woman. Ten seriously ill patients are admitted at the district hospital in Damoh. Thirty-five others were shifted to the nearby Health and Wellness Centre.

Doctors at the district hospital said the acute gastroenteritis and related problems are likely to have been caused by consumption of contaminated water, possibly from a well. All the patients are stable now.

Dr Sachin Malaiya, a senior doctor at the hospital, said: "Our team is camping in the village and immediately shifted at least 35 patients suffering from mild dehydration, to the nearby Health and Wellness Centre". Another patient, who was in a highly critical condition, is also stable now, he said.

"It seems that consumption of the contaminated water of the well has triggered the outbreak of the stomach infection," said Dr Malaiya.

A young girl, Jyoti, who was among the patients admitted in the district hospital, said many people in the village were suffering from acute diarrhoea and associated problems. The well, she said, got contaminated due to ingress of dirty rain water.

"I lost my grandfather and an aunt to the outbreak," she added.

The Jal Shakti Mantralay works to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of providing clean drinking water to every Indian household under Jal Jeevan Mission's "Har Ghar Nal (tap water in every home)" scheme by 2024.