The deteriorating quality of ground water in Ghaziabad took a heavy toll on Thursday when six residents of Prem Nagar in loni town died and at least 500 people fell seriously ill after drinking contaminated water.
According to hospital and police sources, within hours of drinking water, the residents started complaining of drowsiness and fell unconscious.
Some of them began vomiting, while some had froth coming out of their mouths.
Panic gripped the entire area and the victims were rushed to different hospitals in the vicinity.
Six of them died within one or two hours of treatment and nearly 500 people are still under treatment.
While 50 people were referred to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in Delhi, 318 patients were admitted to the community centre at loni in the last two days and 150 patients were admitted to the district MMG Hospital.
Six people who died after drinking the water have been identified as Isha (1), Zaid Mohammad (3),Shahid (52) Shakil (25), Naseer (45) and Ikra (6).
"At certain places the water and sewer pipelines have broken and as they run together the water of both lines got mixed.
"Since the residents of the area draw water illegally from the pipelines they are getting contaminated water which is a major cause of diarrhoea and later proved fatal" said Ghaziabad District Magistrate SVS Ranga Rao.
According to the residents of loni, the entire town has been receiving contaminated water for the last few years. The situation has worsened in the last one year with almost every pocket of the area receiving contaminated water in supply taps.
Residents allege that ground water in the area is contaminated with deadly effluents released by factories flouting all pollution norms.
"Most of the units here are running without Effluent Treatment Plants and are brazenly discharging the hazardous wastes into the open. These wastes percolate into the ground and contaminate the entire ground water. We have complained several times to the Pollution Control Board (PCB) but they have done nothing," said Jitendra Rajput, a loni resident.
"Not only loni, the entire area is sitting on a death-bed. Hard metals like Selenium, Chromium, Molybdenum, Arsenic, Mercury, Nickel, Chromium, Zinc, Magnesium and others have spread across the entire water table, rendering ground water unfit for any domestic use," said Akash Vashishtha, anti-pollution activist of Hindustan Environment Action Group.
"Even Reverse Osmosis units have failed in several areas. Surface water is also terribly contaminated, which results in deadly aerosols being released into the atmosphere, adding to the already high Suspended Particulate Matter.
"The PCB is hand-in-glove with the polluting units. The problem has been brought to the notice of the PCB, Chief Secretary and even the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority several times, but it has never been addressed," said Vashishtha.