With the strict directions from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for checking the quality of drinking water before supply following the K. Salundi incident where a 22-year-old youth died after drinking contaminated water, the authorities in Mysuru district are on their toes with the local bodies given strict instructions for taking all necessary precautions with regard to the supply of safe drinking water.
Sanitation in villages has come under the focus with the reports of water-borne diseases.
Kanakaraj died due to consuming contaminated water supplied to K. Salundi in Mysuru taluk. In this connection, three officials of Bogadi Town Panchayat have been suspended, and an inquiry has been ordered. The Deputy Commissioner, Mysuru has been asked to submit a report on the incident. Several people from the same village got ill due to water contamination.
The Chief Minister visited K. Salundi and announced compensation to the deceased’s family.
The incident has come as a wake-up call with the authorities told to take precautions to prevent such incidents.
In view of strict directions to the deputy commissioners during the Chief Minister’s video conference on safe drinking water supply and sanitation, Mysuru Zilla Panchayat CEO K.M. Gayathri visited villages coming under Varuna Gram Panchayat, including Siddaramanahundi, the native village of the Chief Minister, and checked the water supply. She also inspected hygiene in the villages.
The Zilla Panchayat CEO has asked the officers to conduct tests of borewell water and water supplied through tankers. These precautions are a must to test the water quality and this is the responsibility of the PDO, she added.
In all the wards of the villages, the water stored in tanks has to be checked for quality. The tanks need to be cleaned to prevent any health issues and contamination. As per the SOPs, the water quality has to be checked before its distribution at different intervals, the CEO said.
The ASHA workers have been asked to visit the houses and spread awareness of the need to prevent water-borne diseases through certain precautions. The people are advised to drink boiled water. “The focus needs to be on kids, pregnant women, nursing mothers, elderly persons as they are susceptible to any infections.”
After inspecting the water storage facilities in Varuna village, the CEO asked the officers to fix casing pipes at distribution points near Devammana Temple and also on Suttur Main Road in the village
