SRINAGAR, Sept 27: The outbreak of water borne diseases in northern Kashmir, which has so far affected hundreds of people, could have been triggered by carcasses of livestock, residents say.
At least 350 people in Tangmarg and other areas have been sent to different hospitals for treatment during the past week, while many are admitted in Srinagar’s Sheri Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, where doctors confirmed they were suffering from cholera.
While authorities have yet no clue about what could have polluted the water, two local students say they dragged a dead sheep from the Nallah Ferozpora stream – a main water souce of the vilages.
“Today we went for an outing to Drung and as we reached near Army picket above Goerwan area we found a dead sheep stuck between two boulders. As a moral duty, we dragged it out,” said one of the students, Bilal Ahmed.
The finding comes just a day after a dead cow was found in the same water body. On Wednesday Block Medical Officer Tangmarg wrote a letter to the Director Health Kashmir informing him about the finding, sources said.
“It has been mentioned that the dead cow was lying in the river for about a week and has been dragged out of the river and kept on the bank by locals of the vilage Drung,” they said.
The cow was in a prtialy-decomposed state.
Public Health Engneering Officials, however, said that the water source to area lies above the spot where the carcasses were found and questioned claims that the stream was polluted by them.
“But many villages also use water by directly obtainin it from the places where the animals have been found,” a resident said.
(with additional reporting by Ahmed Kashmiri)
