Hyderabad: Ten days ago, 45-year-old Hussainamma noticed the colour of the drinking water in her house change to green. Her family of six members consumed the water as they had no other choice, even after complaining about it to the owner of the house. Soon enough, she fell sick and eventually had to be admitted to Kondapur government hospital.
Hussainamma was one of the several citizens who fell sick after consuming contaminated water about two weeks ago. Two people died, and over 100 others were hospitalised after drinking contaminated drinking water that was supplied to them, and in other localities as well. The water was supplied to them via the water board’s lines.
While the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) tested the water and said it was clean last week itself, it is likely that water and drainage lines were mixed up, leading to contamination. The residents coming from underprivileged backgrounds had no other option but to consume it.
“We are very replaceable. Now, this illness has made us unemployable also. We haven’t gone to work for a week now.” Husainamma, a widow from Kondapur Basti said. She is a daily wage worker and has a family of six people to look after.
Multiple localities impacted:
In the last seven days, over 120 people have been hospitalized, and two people died owing to contaminated drinking water supply in their localities. The problem is spread across multiple locations and not just from one location as reported earlier. The areas affected so far are Shubhash Chandra Bose Basti in Hafeezpet, Vaddera Basti in Madhapur, a Corporate colony in Chanda Nagar, and a Basti opposite KIMS hospital in Kondapur.
Residents of Vaddera Basti, and Kondapur Basti had been facing issues with their water connection for over ten days now. They said that they noticed a foul smell in the water, as well as a green coloured tinge to it. Many people started showing symptoms of sickness such as severe diarrhoea, vomiting, and high fever. However, people only started admitting themselves to hospitals after news of a community members’ death spread on Saturday (9 April).
“As soon as we got to know that people are dying of this illness, we rushed my daughter who had been sick to the hospital on Saturday night. My daughter and I are both widows. She has two young sons to look after. By Monday morning, I was hospitalized for the sickness too.” Vimala said, a resident of Vaddera basti. She works as a cook to support her family.
In the meanwhile, between Saturday night and Monday morning, Vimala’s two grandchildren were punished at school and not allowed to write their exams as the family had not paid their school fees yet. “The children’s mother and I were both hospitalized, we left the children with our neighbours. We later found out that our children were punished. How could we go when we have been sick for a week now?” she lamented.
There were at least 10 children under the age of five admitted at Kondapur government hospital undergoing treatment for the same sickness.
“My one-year-old son and my three-year-old daughter have been vomiting for one week. The fever has decreased now. The doctor said it will take some more days before they are discharged.” Ramani, a 20-year-old woman from Shubhash Chandra Bose colony, in Hafeezpet said.
“Our house owner usually alerts us when there is an issue with water, however, no message was given this time around. This has led to my children suffering.”
Ramani, Vimala, and Husainamma said that they reached out to their local community heads respectively about getting the water pipeline fixed. However, they said that much didn’t come out of it as no heed was paid to them. “They keep saying that they will get the pipes fixed but I don’t see it happening,” said Ramani
“We live in rented homes, and go for daily wage work. If we run around government offices over such issues, who will feed my family? The owners of our houses should take this up.” Husainamma said while Vimala and Ramani seconded her.
The medical staff at the Kondapur Government hospital said, “People have been coming continuously since Saturday with symptoms leading to gastroenteritis. We had to bring interns and staff from other hospital branches because we fell short of resources here.”
Meanwhile, the Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Dr A Varadha Chary was unavailable for comment.
Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) collected water samples on two days from various areas. The results however came clean.
Unfortunately, the problems that residents in these communities have faced are not new to the city. Other areas such as Bholakpur have seen similar issues in the past.
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