Chennai: Following the death of an 11-year-old boy who allegedly drank contaminated water in Abith Colony, Saidapet, Health Minister Ma Subramanian said, “The Metrowater water was uncontaminated. It is suspected that the private water canister from which the children drank might be contaminated.” The minister was addressing reporters on Sunday, a day after the boy, Yuvaraj, died of vomiting and diarrhoea at the Rajiv Gandhi Govt General Hospital. The health department had conducted tests and confirmed that the Metrowater water was clean. Officials of the Greater Chennai Corporation held a medical camp at Abith Colony. The health condition of his seven-year-old sister, who is being treated at the Institute of Child Health in Egmore, is stable, he said. Yuvaraj, a native of Bihar, died of infection on Saturday. “We do not yet know the cause of the infection as the autopsy report is pending. “No other resident in the area complained to us of these symptoms during the medical camp. Water analysis also did not show any abnormal results, though we have reported mixing of sewage with the water in some parts of Abith Colony,” the minister said. However, residents said the contamination was caused by the construction of a wall that blocked the drainage of rainwater and the rising water level mixing with the swamp where drinking water was stored. Also, rainwater is often contaminated. Metrowater officials, however, said they had drilled a hole in the wall and drained the water. On Saturday, there were problems of sewage mixing with the water at eight to 10 places, but none of them were serious enough to cause deaths, Subramanian said. As a precautionary measure, residents of Abith Colony were given doxycycline tablets and asked to add chlorine tablets to the drinking water. Food safety department official P. Satheesh Kumar said the problem could have been caused by water from the cans. “Action is being taken against the company. Other brands of cans are also being checked for safety standards.”
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