NE NEWS SERVICE
GANDHINAGAR, MARCH 15
Union Minister Amit Shah on Monday asked Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel to change water and sewer pipelines as more than 500 persons have fallen ill since the first week of March in Kalol town in Gandhinagar district, an official said.
As directed by Shah, who is a Lok Sabha member from Gandhinagar, CM Patel has allocated Rs 2 crore as a “special case” to lay a new pipeline for the distribution of drinking water in Kalol town, Gandhinagar district Collector Kuldeep Arya said in a statement.
Commissioner of Municipalities, Raj Kumar Beniwal, was present in a meeting held during the day on the issue. Due to water contamination, 583 cases of diarrhea and vomiting have emerged in Kalol town since March 6, said Arya.
It has been revealed that contamination of drinking water was a result of leakage or rupture in underground pipelines, resulting in sewer water getting mixed with drinking water.
“We have formed teams for house to house surveys to detect cases. The local administration has also deployed tankers to supply water to the people living in affected areas of Kalol. As a result, cases are now declining,” said Arya.
“Shah took serious note of the situation and collected details about the work being carried out by authorities to tackle the situation. He also drew the Gujarat CM’s attention and suggested to immediately change old pipelines. As directed by him, the CM has allocated Rs 2 crore to carry out the work to lay new pipelines,” said Arya.
He added that a detailed project report to lay a 3-kilometer long water pipeline will be submitted by an agency within 10 days.
Incidentally, Kalol town was declared a cholera-affected region in July last year after five cases were found, with a probe putting the cause to contamination of water pipelines due to underground leakage and rupture in old pipelines.
