Three weeks after people from the DLF New Town Heights, a premium apartment complex in Kochi’s Kakkanad, fell sick due to water contamination, the state’s health department said in a press release on Thursday, June 20, that three water samples collected from the apartment complex showed the presence of Coliform bacteria (E. coli).
It was on 18 June that the incident came to light after more than 500 people, including toddlers and senior citizens, became ill and showed similar symptoms. Those affected showed symptoms of vomiting, diarrhoea, body pain, and fever. TNM met with the residents on 18 June, and according to them, several people had been falling sick since the beginning of June. But since they were unaware of other residents with similar health issues, they did not know that others were also suffering from similar symptoms. The apartment complex has 15 towers and a total of 1,268 apartments. The only common factor connecting all of them is water.
According to Hareesh Menon, a resident of the flat, the presence of E. coli bacteria was detected in the water tank during a routine check on May 29. However, the apartment’s residents' association didn’t alert the residents about this. “The report was only shared on the 15th. We don't know what effective steps were taken by them in between. However, by the time the entire situation changed, almost 60 to 70% of the people were affected. Had it been done before or on the 29th itself, they could have very well averted this calamity,” he told TNM.
When the situation worsened, the residents' association contacted the health minister and conducted a detailed inspection of the water tanks and surroundings. Right after the presence of E. coli was revealed, superchlorination was carried out in the flat under the leadership of the Health Department. Moreover, the flat’s association has been ordered to stop supplying water from the sources that caused the disease outbreak and instead arrange safe water from authorised sources.
However, on 18 June, the association organised a medical camp for the residents, and doctors and nurses from Aster Medcity, Thrikkakara Cooperative Hospital, and Ernakulam General Hospital were present. They also arranged an ambulance with an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). As mentioned by the residents, they have multiple water sources including wells, borewells, and corporation water, but they don't have any proper water purifying system. Residents say that installing a common reverse osmosis (RO) plant will address the issue to a large extent. “We have sand filtration, carbon filtration, and chlorination. However, we are planning to install an RO plant,” Apartment Association Representative Surya Suresh told TNM.