SAYA GOLD RESIDENTS FALLING ILL: 8 OF 15 WATER SAMPLES FAIL QUALITY CHECKS, SAYS HEALTH DEPT

The district health department found faecal contamination in underground and overhead tanks of Saya Gold high-rise in Indirapuram in Ghaziabad, where at least 762 residents have fallen ill over the past two weeks, with symptoms of vomiting, abdominal pain, and nausea, among others.

Health department officials said eight of 15 water samples collected from the high-rise had presence of faecal matter, confirming that this could be the reason why so many residents fell ill at the same time.

The high-rise has about 1,620 flats and 1,100 of these are occupied. Last week, when residents complained of ill health with symptoms such as vomiting, abdominal pain, nausea, etc., health officials suspected that this could be due to water contamination.

“It has come to fore that the local sewage facility developed a fault on April 28 and the sewage water backflowed into the basement. The basement of the high-rise has a huge water storage tank of about 275,000 litres. It is suspected that the contaminants entered the water tank. Since the basement is also used for vehicle parking, it may be that the contaminants were further taken into flats by residents via their shoes/slippers,” said Dr Rakesh Gupta, district surveillance officer.

Faecal contamination has disease-causing microorganisms that are largely derived from human sewage or excreta from animals, the officials said.

The officials said so far 762 residents developed complaints of diarrhoea and 17 of them were admitted to hospitals.

“Thirteen of 17 patients are still under treatment. Samples of these affected persons have also been sent to King George’s Medical College, Lucknow, for testing. The maintenance firm of the high-rise has been asked to take up chlorination and sanitisation of all water storage units with immediate effect. We have set up camps at the high-rise since May 2 and will continue to remain there until this situation is sorted,” Gupta said.

The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) earlier sent teams to check the Ganga water supply lines and end point water connections to the high-rise to ascertain the source of the contamination.

“The matter was serious as many residents fell ill. Our teams did not find any leakage in the Ganga water pipeline and end-point connections,” said Atul Vats, vice-chairperson, GDA.

Neeraj Gupta, media coordinator on behalf of Saya Group, said, “From ensuring clean water to providing all the best arrangements, all are available in society. However, some anti-social elements are trying to disrupt the atmosphere in the society. Nevertheless, minor problems that arose suddenly have been rectified. At present, the situation remains stable.”

Sanjay Singh, councillor of ward 100, Shipra Sun City, said, “We will approach GDA and highlight the issue. The developer will also be asked to construct a proper sewage facility at the high-rise. The residents were given treatment by the health department and the developer may have to pay a compensation to residents admitted to private hospitals.”

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2024-05-07T00:44:26Z dg43tfdfdgfd