E.coli bacteria presence confirmed in water samples from Ghaziabad society after 20 fall ill

After nearly 20 residents of KW Srishti housing society in Ghaziabad fell sick after consuming contaminated water, the health department confirmed on Wednesday, i.e., September 25, the presence of coliform bacteria in water samples, Times of India reported. 

As per the report, the apartment complex with 1,500 flats houses over 5,000 people. Over the past two weeks, the residents have been complaining about the poor quality of the water reaching their taps. It became even more evident as 20 people complained of stomach aches after consuming the water. 

District surveillance officer RK Gupta said that 39 water samples were collected from the overhead tanks of the 11 towers of the housing society and a borewell — the main water source of the society —earlier this month and sent to the district lab for further examination. 

The report confirmed the presence of coliform bacteria in all the samples. Coliform bacteria can cause serious illness in humans, if remains untreated. It also can lead to infection symptoms including stomach ache, diarrhoea, vomiting, etc. 

Meanwhile, Assistant CMO RK Gupta urged the residents not to consume tap water until the superchlorination process is over. Superchlorination is a water treatment process where a large amount of chlorine is added to water in a bid to disinfect it. 

Moreover, accusing the society's maintenance team of 'negligence', Assistant CMO Gupta said that if the situation persisted, there could be an outbreak of diarrhoea. 

"The developer has been directed to set up a dossier pump for superchlorination by next week. As RNE is a GDA scheme, we have written to the authority in the matter. A report was also submitted before the director general of health and family welfare department," TOI has quoted him as saying. 

What do the residents say?

Anuj Bansal, a resident of KW Srishti, told the publication that whenever such an issue is flagged, the people are asked to pack their bags and leave. 

Whenever a problem is flagged, the maintenance team, rather than looking for a resolution, tells residents to pack up and leave. It has been like this always. We have no idea if they clean these water tanks at all," he said. 

However, Bala Dutt Upadhyay, manager of the society's maintenance firm, claimed that water tanks are cleaned every six months but the scheduled July cleaning was delayed due to the monsoon.

"Heavy rains and wet conditions made it difficult for our staff to access and properly clean the tanks. So, the tanks' cleaning was rescheduled for Oct. We suspect that the delay in cleaning could have contributed to the problem," he said.