Tension prevailed near Tiruttani after two persons died and more than 10 others were hospitalised allegedly due to contaminated drinking water, prompting villagers to stage a road blockade.
The incident occurred at Karlam Bakkam Colony near Tiruttani in Tiruvallur district, where drinking water was supplied through an overhead tank by the panchayat administration. More than 1,000 residents had been using the water. On Saturday, several people developed symptoms such as diarrhoea, stomach pain and vomiting. Villagers alleged that the contaminated drinking water was the cause.
On Friday, a man identified as Ezhumalai, a mason, had died and on Saturday morning, another resident, Sudha, died. Holding the drinking water responsible for the deaths, more than 100 men and women from the village gathered and staged a sit-in protest, blocking the State highways connecting Pallipattu and R.K. Pet.
More than 30 police personnel were deployed at the spot. However, the villagers refused to accept the police’s repeated appeals and continued the protest by placing stones and thorny bushes on the road.
Meanwhile, when Sudha’s body was kept at her house for funeral rites, her relatives claimed movement in her legs. The body was taken by ambulance to the Athimancheri Pettai Primary Health Centre for examination. However, after examination, doctors confirmed that Sudha was dead. Alleging that the government was staging a drama, the villagers refused to receive the body and left Sudha’s body in the ambulance parked in the middle of the road and intensified the road blockade, but later dispersed.
Public health officers inspected the area, and an investigation was under way to ascertain the cause of the death. There was a feast in the locality. Hence, food and water samples were being collected for testing, health officials said.
Published – December 28, 2025 05:00 am IST
