Two men, a father and his son, passed away while over 30 others fell ill after drinking contaminated water supplied through taps set up by the gram panchayat at Maidolalu village in Shivamogga on Sunday. 

Shivappa (75) and Hanumanthappa (35) were rushed to McGann Hospital in the district on Saturday as they fell ill after drinking contaminated water from an overhead tank in the village.

The duo succumbed on Sunday amid fears of an outbreak in the village.

Over 30 residents who fell ill have been rushed to McGann and Subbaiah hospitals in the district as officials scrambled to find a solution to the problems caused by the contaminated water.

“We found that the water in the overhead tank in the village was contaminated. We have also been told that the tank has not been washed in a year,” said Venkatesh, District Health Officer (DHO), Shivamogga.

Venkatesh, who took charge from Hanumanthappa as DHO today, also confirmed that several students have fallen ill and serious cases are being treated at private hospitals in the district.

Meanwhile, former DHO Hanumanthappa assured that the situation was now under control. “As soon as we detected the cases, we collected water samples from the tank, stool samples from the persons affected and set up clinics in the village to treat those who fell ill,” said Hanumanthappa.

Officials however are still waiting for the lab report to ascertain the cause of the deaths and are still faced with a growing number of sick residents who are queuing up at hospitals seeking treatment.

Water tankers have been deployed to supply water in the village until the water in the village is declared fit for human consumption.

The officials’ efforts to respond to the problem has done little to appease villagers in Maidolalu who are up in arms over the deaths of two residents.

They have sought stern action against the authorities and demanded compensation for the victims as they held gram panchayat members responsible for not cleaning the overhead tank in the past year.