From dengue to diarrhea outbreak, Kolkata civic body shows inadequacy to face public health crisis

Kolkata, February 16: During diarrhea outbreak Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) goes under same denial mode which it sought during Dengue outbreak too. Mayor Sovan Chatterjee on Thursday blamed "packaged water" for the outbreak of diarrhea denying any contamination in municipality supply water. However, at least he accepted water contamination as a reason for the enteric disease after several days.

While sample tests found Coliform bacteria in three samples of water, one was from a house where KMC supplies water from Dhapa Pumping station. But Mayor has blamed the hygiene of the house water storage. “Two of these samples were from a tube well and a bottle of packaged water sold in that area. The third sample was collected from a house where the tank was unclean and unhygienic," he said.

"We haven't found anything in our tests yet to suggest or confirm that potable water supplied by the CMC is the cause of the diarrhea. I am not denying that many people have fallen ill. We also want to know the reason for the infection," the mayor said in his office at the CMC headquarters.

Even till now it is not sure if there’s any other pathogen which caused the crisis because coliform’s presence in water could be because of faecal contamination or by other pathogens. Moreover, testing coliform is easier than other pathogens. The political blame game has also started following the death of a patient who showed diarrhea symptoms but the death certificate of the patient reveals "multi-organ failure". Similarly in time of dengue outbreak doctors were directed not to mention dengue in the death certificate.