Gaur Sportswood: Residents fall ill, water contamination suspected

Noida: Members of at least eight households of the Gaur Sportswood, a residential highrise society in sector 79, fell ill over the last one week. There have been a total of eight confirmed cases of Hepatitis A reported in the last week from the society. On December 6, 2021, the society reported a confirmed case of jaundice as well. The residents allege that this spate of waterborne diseases is being caused by contaminated drinking water supply to the society homes.

Initially, residents thought that this problem was caused due to change in weather, but when more of the residents fell ill, the alarm bells started ringing.

Vanisha Chopra (17) a resident of the society has been diagnosed with jaundice on December 6, 2021. Ajay Chopra her father says, “Vanisha is having her board exams and now she is down with jaundice. For the last week, she was feeling weak in the stomach.  The doctor has advised some more tests with regard to Hepatitis A and B. We are really worried.”

A resident, Arun Kataria, who is suffering from Hepatitis A, says, “Our family doctor said that such a high number of cases from a small residential pocket usually come into light only when the sewer line water gets mixed with the main water supply. When I asked my doctor if such cases are being reported from other societies or not, he told me that as of now, most cases are being reported from Sportwood only.”

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Indranil Mukherji [45], is staying in the society for the last three years. His wife contracted Hepatitis A in the last week as well. Says, he, “From the last couple of weeks, several residents are complaining about a stomach ache. Our doctor told us that this has to be waterborne because so many cases from same society are being reported. Builder is saying that there is no contamination in water. Noida Authority is also not accepting the blame.”

Rakesh Kumar, [52], who’s 15 years old son is diagnosed with Hepatitis A, says, “Last Monday, my son had severe fever. We thought it was just viral, so we went to the doctor and he wrote some tests. On the third day, my son's health deteriorated and he vomited. The doctor said that it’s confirmed that there is some problem in the society’s water.”

Pravesh kumar Pundhir [53], whose daughter [26] and son [23] got diagnosed with Hepatitis A, says, “Both my children had high fever on December 3. The doctor recommended a Kidney function test and liver function test. They were diagnosed with Hepatitis A. Noida Authority has taken water samples on Sunday evening. The water treatment plant is operated by the builder. The maintenance department of the society has also taken some water samples.”

Sanwarjeet Singh, a resident of Gaur Sportswood, says, “Residents have been complaining about this issue for 5 days now. We tweeted and complained to the authorities about this issue. On Sunday evening, the Noida Authority officials visited within half an hour after our complaint. The Authority official said that if the quality of water is substandard,  then neighbouring societies like Civitech will also be affected. But it’s not the case. They said there is some problem in this society itself or maybe sewer water is getting mixed. They took the water samples from all the towers. Most cases have been reported from J tower”.

Ajay Diwedi, from the maintenance team of Gaur Sportswood, says, “We didn’t receive any reports from the society residents. It might be getting discussed in the resident’s group but no one reported in the maintenance office. One of the residents tweeted tagging Noida Authority officials and the authority officials visited the spot. They checked the pipelines. We are supplying Ganga water only. We are not mixing anything with it. In September we cleaned these tanks. However, today only I have taken some water samples from an underground tank and from one of the residents' houses. We have sent it to the lab for further check”.

Amit Bhardwaj, a Noida Authority official, says, “We supply Ganga water not only in this society but in many societies of different sectors. We went to the  Gaur Sports Wood, society on the complaint of the residents. The fault is from the builder and not from our side as we are supplying Ganga Water to many other societies also”.

CitySpidey also talked to Dr. Amit Sachdeva, who says, “We have been getting some cases of Hepatitis A from the society for the last one week. Usually, Hepatitis A is a water-borne disease. Around 5-6 cases we have already witnessed. Depending upon the diagnosis and how the disease is progressing,  in a few cases, it could get  serious but usually, a patient recovers in 3-4  weeks.”