The number of hospitalised people have increased to eight after two more were admitted due to nausea and loose motions. The outbreak had already claimed the life of a year-old child on Monday while another death, suspected to be due to diarrhoea, was reported on Wednesday.
"A large number of people were affected by the disease," Sriramulu said, adding that examination of drinking water samples in the region was found to be not good for consumption.
The contamination is not confined to the drinking water but has also penetrated our food chains. The routine extraction of groundwater for irrigation is expanding the deposits of arsenic in the soil and as a result, it is being absorbed by the crops being cultivated on that soil.
Strict protocol laid down for handling and disposal of biomedical waste has gone for a toss in the city and some districts, particularly Howrah and Haldia.
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