Ban on unpackaged water, juices after boy’s death

GURUGRAM: The health department conducted a survey of the quality of water being supplied in Wazirabad on Thursday, days after a 4-year-old boy who had symptoms of diarrhoea died.
In an order, the health department also banned the sale of unpackaged drinks and juices by vendors on stalls and carts in Wazirabad and Laxman Vihar, where similar cases have been reported.
Gurugram chief medical officer (CMO) Gulshan Rai Arora, who took charge on Wednesday, told officials to collect water samples from the area and check if they were sufficiently chlorinated. “I have also asked them to carry out checks of food stalls located in the area, including those selling cut fruits and vegetables in the open,” Arora told TOI.
On Thursday, a team from the district integrated disease surveillance project visited Nai ki Dhani in Wazirabad, Sector 52. According to officials from the team, they found contaminated water in an area of around 500m, which had led to loose motion and vomiting in a number of people. A medical officer who visited the spot said around 36 people living in the locality have shown symptoms of diarrhoea.
According to officials, the water pipeline in the area had been improperly fixed after people got new water connections, which may have led to contaminants mixing with the water. Arora has asked medical officers to carry out routine checks of water samples to ensure that there are no leakages and mixing of water with contaminants.
The four-year-old child from Nai ki Dhani, Aditya, was brought dead to a private hospital in Sector 53 on Sunday. According to the team who spoke to his parents, Aditya was suffering from loose motion. His health improved after medication on Sunday morning, after which his parents, who are daily wagers, left for work.
When they returned in the evening, the child’s condition had deteriorated, and he was declared brought dead when taken to the hospital.