KUPWARA: Over two dozen people including children and women have fallen ill after gastroenteritis outbreak in Shatgund village of Mawar Kupwara. The sick people were shifted to nearby hospitals for treatment. Sources said that last month’s heavy snowfall damaged water pipeline of village and then employees of Public Health Engineering (PHE) department connects the water pipeline of the village to another local stream to provide the water to consumers. However, from the past three days, 27 people were fallen ill with gastroenteritis and were shifted to local hospitals for treatment. The locals of the area blamed that employees of the PHE department connects their water pipeline to a local stream instead of repairing the old one, which was damaged due to mudslides in last month’s heavy snowfall. The sources at the Health department said that a team of doctors has been sent to the area to check the cause of outbreak.They said that they cannot said if the breakout is due to dirty water, but will investigate it.

Mushtaq Ahamd