500 Kupwara locals fall ill after drinking ‘dirty’ water

Srinagar, August 12

Nearly 500 people on Sunday suffered from diarrhoea in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district after consuming “contaminated” water.

Officials said the people of Jaggerpora village in Kupwara fell ill after the public health engineering (PHE) department supplied contaminated drinking water to the public.

“We have received 500 cases of diarrhoea and all of them are out of danger. They are recovering,” a senior official told The Tribune.

Kupwara Deputy Commissioner Khalid Jahangir visited the Jaggerpora area of Handwara in Kupwara. He interacted with the locals and enquired about the health of the affected people. Jahangir also inspected the mobile medical camps to check the treatment facilities available.

The DC constituted a team comprising Handwara additional deputy commissioner, Baramulla superintending engineer and Kupwara chief medical officer to conduct a detailed inquiry about the outbreak and to receive feedback from the people and submit the report by Sunday evening.

The DC also inspected the spring that functions as the main source of water for the village and issued directions to the XEN, PHE department, to mobilise resources on war footing for expediting the renovation, repair and protection work on the water body. — TNS