The Hindu : Front Page : ``Excessive dehydration" claims three more lives in Kancheepuram town

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 23, 2005

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``Excessive dehydration" claims three more lives in Kancheepuram town

Staff Reporter

Piped drinking water supply in the affected area suspended

KANCHEEPURAM: The "excessive dehydration" syndrome is believed to have claimed three more lives on Thursday even though the officials maintained that the total casualty figure has not crossed five.

Two victims — Rajendran (52) of Olimohammed Pettai and Lakshmi (60) of Vellakulam Street — were reported to have undergone treatment for diarrhoea at two different hospitals in the town. The third victim, Rajendran (48) died in the General Hospital around 11 a.m. on Thursday.

The officials from the State Health Department and Kancheepuram Municipality, who claimed that the deaths were due to acute dehydration, differed on how the disease spread.

Talking to reporters at the Collectorate, the Health department officials said water contamination was the root cause for diarrhoeal infection. The Municipal officials denied it. TWAD Board officials, who executed the Thiruparkadal Drinking Water Supply scheme, supported the civic body's claim by producing water test certificates. From Thursday, piped drinking water supply in the affected area was suspended and arrangements were made to distribute water through tankers, civic body sources said.

The HD officials said that a total of 207 patients (125 from Kancheepuram town and 72 from nearby villages) have been treated at the GH, CSI Hospital and Meenakshi Medical College Hospital between December 17 and 21. The number of cases reported in the forenoon of December 22 was 25 from the urban area and 10 from the rural area, they said.

On the other hand, the number of cases treated at the temporary treatment centre set up by the civic body in its O.Pettai school alone crossed 20 by this afternoon.

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