(Riya Singh, Intern Journalist) Patna: Three children have died and over 50 tribal people have fallen ill, allegedly after consuming contaminated water at Chunhatta village in Rohtas district of Bihar, said an official on Sunday.
As many as 18 out of the 46 people examined by the medical team tested positive for malaria, however, the reason for others falling ill is not clear yet, said an official.
The incident took place on Friday but the forest and health officials came to know only on Saturday after being informed by the mukhiya, following which civil surgeon Dr. Sudhir Kumar along with his team of doctors rushed to the village 135km from district headquarters of Sasaram.
The deceased were identified as Ravi Oraon, 10, Fulmati Kumari, 11, and Premsheela, 10, both daughters of Gorakhnath Oraon.
Those ill have been admitted to different hospitals of Adhaura, Bhabua and Dehri and some of them are critical, said village chief Shyam Narayan Oraon, and they mostly comprise laborer who had been working on two watersheds of forest department in Chenari forest. “A forest department team is camping at the village to help the people,” said divisional forest officer (DFO) Pradyumn Gaurav.
The DFO said over 60 tribal laborers belonging to Chunhatta village had been brought to Chenari forests for the watershed work. A camp had been set up at Chatari village where they were living with their families.
As the work was almost complete, the laborer were ferried by department vehicles to their native village on Friday, he said. Some of them developed symptoms like fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach ache but delayed going to doctors till their condition deteriorated, said the official. The actual cause behind the incident will be clear once the medical team returns from the hilly village, the DFO said
The civil surgeon could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.
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