GUWAHATI, Feb 19 � A number of people including several foreign tourists have fallen ill after consuming contaminated drinking water at Kamakhya temple � the famed Shakti shrine atop the Nilachal Hills in the city.
One of the foreign tourists � a woman from California (USA) � was admitted to the Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) after her condition deteriorated, Anup Prasad Sarma, a Kamakhya Debuttor official said, adding that the affected included two more foreign tourists.
Sarma said that contaminated water from the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) pipes had been a big health hazard in the Kamakhya temple area for the past week, and despite repeated requests, the GMC authorities were turning a blind eye to the serious problem.
�The potable water the residents of Kamakhya are getting is highly polluted. It is blackish in colour and has repulsive odour but we have been compelled to make do with the health hazard as our pleas to the authorities have fallen on deaf ears,� Sarma said, adding that one official from the GMC�s water treatment plant at Panbazar even threatened the residents with cutting off the water supply to Kamakhya.
Sarma said that a number of residents have been complaining of severe stomach pain and vomiting for the past one week.
