With residents of ward 6 in Kalol municipality claiming to have been complaining of non-potable water supply at their homes for the last three years – with all three years marked by sporadic outbreaks of cholera or diarrhoea – the municipality, after the latest outbreak of cholera this month, has decided to overhaul the ward's drainage and waterwork system after monsoon. The cholera outbreak, resulting from water contamination, was declared on June 22, with Gandhinagar district Collector Hitesh Koya issuing a notification, declaring a 2-km radius of the outbreak epicentre as “cholera-affected” under the Epidemic Diseases Act. The notification, which will remain in force for a month, declared as cholera-affected, areas including the vicinity of Matva Kuva road. As of Tuesday, according to Gandhinagar Chief District Health Officer Dr Ashok Vaishnav, while 116 patients are suspected to have cholera, three have been confirmed as cholera patients. With water contamination determined as the cause of the outbreak, Dr Vaishnav said that anyone who exhibits symptoms of diarrhoea (loose motions more than thrice a day) or vomiting or both, will be considered as a suspected patient. As of Monday night, only nine remain hospitalised, with no fatalities reported. Chief Officer of Kalol municipality, Vijay Parikh, said that following the latest outbreak, the municipality plans to overhaul its drainage and waterwork network in ward 6, complete with resurfacing, at an estimated cost of Rs 6 crore. The tender will be floated through Gujarat Urban Development Company (GUDC) and work in this regard is set to commence post-monsoon, he added. The proposal for a new network in the area comes following Health Minister Rushikesh Patel visiting the Kalol CHC, which is also a referral hospital, on Sunday after speaking to Gandhinagar Lok Sabha MP Amit Shah on Saturday. “The GUDC officials are expected to survey the existing network in a couple of days,” Parikh said. He added, “The pipelines here for both water supply and drainage are several decades old. We found that the potable water pipeline, which goes through the drainage pipeline, had developed a leak, causing contamination of the potable water with the sewage water. We repaired the leak and stopped water supply in this line for now. For now, we are supplying the residents of the affected areas with drinking water through four tankers provided by the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation - two of 10,000 litre, one of 7,000 litre and one of 5,000 litre - every day.” A tour of Anjuman Wadi, one of the areas under surveillance, shows grossly unhygienic conditions, with open garbage being feasted upon by animals and foul stench emanating from the area. The area is densely populated with makeshift hutments, with some people running scrap godowns from their houses. Mumtaz Malek (52), whose three-and-a-half-year-old grandson Farruk was among those hospitalised following bouts of diarrhoea and vomiting on June 23, said they have been complaining about the water supplied to their homes for at least three years. “There would be dirty black water at times when we turn on the tap. if we wait, we may get clear water. While filling our tanks, we have to keep an eye out in case dirty water starts streaming in. We have taken bottles filled with the dirty water to the municipality office but there has been no improvement.” “We did not get any water supply following the outbreak until last evening (June 27). Now, we have been told by the health teams to not drink tap water and only drink the water being supplied through tankers. We usually drink water from the tap itself,” Malek added. In July 2021, at least five persons had died and over 300 were suspected to be infected by cholera in Kalol's wards 5 and 11. Officials had then suspected that water pipelines, which are nearly 40 years old, could have been the source of contamination, with sewage water mixing with potable water pipelines owing to leaks. Last March, over 200 people reported diarrhoea in ward 4 and the source of contamination was similarly suspected to be leaks in potable water pipelines, damaged owing to digging work for laying cables, municipality officials said.
