Bherya/Saligrama: One person has died, while over 20 others have fallen ill following diarrhoea and vomiting, after consuming contaminated water at Bettahalli in Saligrama taluk in the district.

The deceased is identified as Govindegowda (65) of the village, while those who have fallen ill, have been admitted to the hospital.

The Gram Panchayat officers and staff are being blamed for their lackadaisical attitude in addressing the complaints related to drinking water supply and supplying contaminated water through taps, that led to the incident.

As some of the villagers who consumed water experienced vomiting and diarrhoea, they were admitted to Community Health Centre at Saligrama. However the condition of Govindegowda, who was one among those admitted at the health centre, worsened further, and he was shifted to Hassan District Hospital, where he did not respond to the treatment and died later, it is said.

Following the information, a team of doctors from the Taluk Hospital rushed to the village and screened the health condition of the villagers. Some of them found vulnerable to water borne infection, were shifted in an ambulance to Saligrama hospital and later to K.R. Hospital in Mysuru city. A team of doctors led by Taluk Health Officer (THO) is camping at Bettahalli and conducting a comprehensive inquiry into the incident.

MLA D. Ravishankar visited the village and consoled the family members of the deceased Govindegowda.

Later, the MLA said, the Officers are inquiring into the root cause of the incident and suitable measures will be taken, once the report is received in this regard.

The MLA took the Officers to task and instructed them to take steps to clean the drainages, pipeline and water tank to supply potable drinking water, to check the recurrence of the incident in the future.