COIMBATORE: 129 hostel students of Excel Engineering College in Komarapalayam, Namakkal, have fallen sick after consuming E. coli contaminated water, reports N Dhamotharan of The New Indian Express.
The District Health Department is planning to cancel the college’s sanitary certificate, and officials will soon issue a show-cause notice directing the college to rectify the issue within seven days.
An officer from the health department in Namakkal told TNIE, "On Sunday, four hostel students from the college visited the nearby Primary Health Centre (PHC) with abdominal pain, followed by another seven students who came to the PHC with the same symptoms on Monday morning."
“As the situation was unusual, a health team comprising 25 staff members made a surprise visit to the college and began screening around 3,500 hostel students to check whether they had similar mild symptoms. During the screening, we found that 118 students predominantly showed symptoms such as abdominal pain, vomiting sensation, and loose motion. Following this, the students were given symptomatic treatment with tablets, injections, and IV fluids as required at the hospital located on the college campus on Monday,” he added.
"Officers from the Health and Food Safety Departments conducted an inspection, and it was shocking to find that the kitchen was extremely unhygienic. The college had two water sumps with capacities of one lakh and five lakh litres, and both were extremely contaminated," he said.
"In particular, the five-lakh-litre sump was found to be filled with sludge. We collected water samples and sent them to the government laboratory in the district for testing. Officers also collected raw food materials from the kitchen and sent them for lab analysis. Meanwhile, the supply of water and food to students was temporarily stopped. Based on this, the college on Tuesday declared holidays for students until further instruction," he said.
He said that cleaning work in the kitchen and sumps is currently underway at the college to ensure hygiene, under the direct supervision of officials on the ground.
Another officer told TNIE that they received the water sample test results on Wednesday and said that, out of eight samples collected from different locations, seven tested positive for E. coli contamination.
The stool test reports of the affected students also indicated that the food hygiene was in a very poor condition.
When asked about it, college principal K Bommanna Raja said the kitchen and sumps are properly maintained every month.
“The contamination occurred in the water supplied from an external source, which may have affected other water sources as well. Cleaning work is currently underway, and the college will be reopened soon,” he said.
