Gandhinagar, Mar 15 (PTI) The Gujarat government on Tuesday informed the state legislative Assembly that it has allotted Rs 1.59 crore to lay new pipelines in Kalol town of Gandhinagar district, as more than 500 persons have fallen ill after consuming contaminated water.
As many as 554 cases of diarrhoea had been reported in Kalol between March 6 and 13, with an eight-month-old baby also dying due to the “side effects” of the disease, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Nimisha Suthar said.
Under Rule 116 of the Assembly, Kalol’s Congress MLA Baldevji Thakor had sought an explanation from the government under the “matter of urgent public importance”.
In her reply, Suthar said the cases emerged mostly in the eastern part of Kalol town due to the contamination of drinking water following leakage underground.
“Pipelines that supply drinking water were laid nearly 40 years ago. As a result, the old pipeline got ruptured, causing water contamination. We have already approved Rs 1.59 crore to remove the old pipeline and lay a new one to resolve the issue,” the minister said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who represents Gandhinagar in Lok Sabha, and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had taken note of the issue and approved the budget for laying new pipelines, she said.
Giving details about the work done by the Kalol Municipality, Suthar said 21 leaks had been plugged by the civic teams so far and continuous surveillance of the affected region was underway.
While Thakor had sought compensation for the kin of the child who died due to side effects of diarrhoea, Suthar said compensation cannot be paid as the outbreak was “man-made” and not a natural calamity.
The infant was already suffering from some other ailments, she said. PTI PJT ARU ARU
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Source: The Print
