kn Nehru. File | Image source: Hindu
Tamil Nadu Municipal Administration and Water Supply Minister KN Nehru declined on Monday (April 21, 2025) that the deaths of three people in Woraiyur were due to water pollution in the area. He further argued that the distribution of buttermilk and cold drinks could have caused several people to get sick during a recent festival in the nearby area.
In response to a motion for special call to attention by opposition leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami and others, Mr. Nehru said there was no evidence that a four-year-old died of diarrhea that consumed contaminated water. He added that a 90-year-old woman had been ill in the past 10 days, while the third deceased was a 53-year-old woman with a heart attack died from cardiac arrest in her residence.
After seven people complaining about vomiting and diarrhea in Wards 8 and 10 of the Woraiyur area on April 18, forming a team of 286 people, including doctors, nurses and health examiners. The minister said this took the necessary steps.
Officials surveyed 1,492 houses and screened 6,416 people. A total of 53 individuals, including 29 women and 6 children, were admitted as residents in government and private hospitals.
Nine special health teams organized the camp, 28 of which were considered outpatients. Five of them were transferred to state-owned hospitals, he said. He said the drugs and others were allocated to 11,875 people as part of the precautions, and water samples were collected from six locations and laboratory tests were performed. Meanwhile, 10 monitoring teams have been formed and they have been inspecting all homes in the area.
“Action against buttermilk distributors”
Even so, there was recently a diarrhea in the nearby rural areas, and the Chithirai Auto Festival, where food, buttermilk and cold drinks are given to people, Nehru said. “They may be the cause of diarrhea. Because the pipeline is different from areas under companies and rural areas, it is impossible for it to be because of the supply of drinking water.”
However, as part of the precautionary measure, the water supply has been stopped and is provided through tanker trucks. He said that during the test, water was found to be very suitable for human consumption. He said that on April 19, a total of 39 people were taken as a precaution, and on the next day, 14 people, and now everyone is fine. He assured that the situation was under control.
The minister expressed doubts about buttermilk and cold drinks provided during the festival, saying he had directed to identify the people responsible for distribution and take action against them. Panruti Mla T. Velmurugan, VCK’s SS Balaji, CPI(M) Vice President Nagaimaali, PMK’s GK Mani and Congress’s JG Prince also spoke, moving the special attention-grabbing attention on this issue.
publishing – April 21, 2025, 1:27 pm IST
