Times of India
27 April 2010
By Umesh Isalkar
Pune, India
Between April 2009 and March this year, there were as many as 266 outbreaks of water–borne diseases in the state, in which 90 people lost their lives, says a report prepared by the state health department.

The high incidence of water–borne diseases corroborates another recent report by the State Public Health Laboratory (SPHL), which indicated that much of the state’s water was unfit for drinking, due to a significant percentage of microbial and faecal contamination. The highest number of outbreaks (34) were witnessed in Nanded district, chief minister Ashok Chavan’s constituency. This again corresponds to SPHL’s water–analysis report, which said the contamination level of water in Nanded was the highest (30%) in the state. Of the 8,148 water samples taken for testing from Nanded district, 2,454 were found to be unsafe for drinking.

The report lists the main water–borne diseases as gastroenteritis, cholera, diarrhoea, infective hepatitis and typhoid.

The highest number of outbreaks (163) were those of gastroenteritis, followed by diarrhoea (84), infection hepatitis (13) and cholera (6), states the report. Gastroenteritis claimed 53 deaths, followed by cholera (24), diarrhoea (13) and infective hepatitis (3).
“Of the 34 districts in the state, Nanded witnessed 34 outbreaks during the specified period. Thirty three of these outbreaks were of gastroenteritis which claimed six lives. The remaining outbreak was that of diarrhoea,” said a top–ranking health officer, requesting anonymity.

Other districts with outbreaks of water–borne diseases were Thane (13), Nashik (14), Satara (14), Parbhani (13), Buldhana (15) and Yavatmal (13).

“The results of water samples tested at the public health laboratories in the state have indicated alarming levels of contamination in water in rural areas. This clearly indicates the failure of the government agencies responsible for keeping water safe and potable for people,” said Prakash Doke, executive director of the State Health Systems Resource Centre (SHSRC). The World Bank estimates 21% of communicable diseases in India are water–related.