Residents allege death of three due to contaminated water

A family from Nagarwada alleged that they lost three family members due to polluted water from the Corporation. The residents nearby protested against the same at the Ward No.8 of VMSS.

The neighbours and relatives said that they had been receiving contaminated water for more than a month and it was only after protests on Thursday morning did the corporation take any action. Pranav Shukla, the Deputy Engineer at Ward No. 8, conceded that the water was oily and contaminated and they were taking necessary steps to curb the flow of water to other areas and households.

According to relatives, numerous family members were suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea due to polluted water and were admitted in the hospital. Even after multiple complaints to Ward No. 8 of VMSS, the relatives said that let alone receive help, they were threatened by authorities from the office. A neighbour said, “They were quick to call the police when we protested today. However, they turned a blind eye to all of our complaints for the last month.”

On Thursday morning, after the demise of another family member, the corporation eventually cut supply to the house from its contaminated water line. Pranav Shukla said, “As soon as we got the report of the person’s death, we cut the water line.” The neighbouring people said that after shuttling from office to office for the last month, nobody came to their aid. They said, “Given that there was no response to our complaints, we had to arrange our own water for the last month to avoid using the corporation’s contaminated water.”

The declining trend of COVID cases over the last week have now given way to alleged cases of negligence by the administration, causing deaths of commoners.