Villagers drain 36acre lake after HIV woman drowns in it

TNN
December 5, 2018

Hubballi, Dec 5:The residents of Morab, around 30km from Hubballi, have refused to drink water from their village lake after an HIV-positive woman committed suicide by jumping into it a week ago. Unable to convince them, the authorities are now draining the water from the 36-acre lake — roughly the size of 25 football fields — which they hope to refill with water from the Malaprabha canal. The Morab lake is the biggest in Navalgund taluk and the only source of drinking water for villagers and cattle. As of now, villagers trek 2-3km to the Malaprabha canal to fetch water.

“This is unfortunate. We have been telling people not to panic as HIV does not spread through water. But the people are not convinced and they have started draining out the lake,” said Dharwad district health officer Dr Rajendra Doddamani. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) spreads only through body fluids. Outside the human body, the virus cannot survive beyond minutes in air or water.

Dr Glory Alexander, founder-director of Asha Foundation, which treats HIV+ patients, said it was a case of fear rather than stigma. “It’s sheer ignorance stemming from lack of awareness. When an HIV-positive person dies, the virus also dies. Even if the virus comes out of the body, it cannot survive in water and dies in a couple of seconds. There is no risk of infection spreading from the water,” she said.

The body of the woman was found in the lake on November 29. Word immediately spread the water had been contaminated, creating panic. Villagers refused to drink the water and pressured the gram panchayat and the Navalgund taluk administration to drain the lake. Authorities tried to convince the villagers that the water was not contaminated and that they would test the water, but no one relented. The authorities have now deployed 20 siphon tubes with four motors to pump out the water.

We’re trekking 2-3km to fetch water from Malaprabha canal, say villagers

We found the body in a highly decomposed state,” said Muttanna Bhavaikatti, from Morab village. “We don’t want to consume contaminated water. We are trekking 2-3km to fetch water from the Malaprabha right bank canal that flows through Morab,” he said.

Pradeep Hanikere, another villager, said the daily hardship was preferable to drinking water from the lake. “Do the officials drink bottled water if they find dirt or a speck in it? If they can’t, then how can they force us to drink water from the lake where we found the body of a woman,” he said.

Another villager pointed out, “We would have consumed the water if it was the body of a normal person, but the woman died of HIV. There is no other way. The authorities must drain out water and fill it with fresh water to save the lives of villagers.”

Gram panchayat member Laxman Patil said the villagers refused to see reason, so pipes have been sucking water out for the past four days. “We managed to drain out lakhs of litres, and discharged the water in a nearby stream. We still have to drain water from 60% of the lake and need at least five days to empty it,” he said. There is another problem, though. “The taluk administration wants us to complete the task by December 6. They have warned the Malaprabha right canal will be closed after December 8, so we have to fill the water into lake before that. More than 50 people are involved in pumping out water. We will need 1-2 weeks to empty and fill the lake.”

Navalgund tahsildar Naveen Hullur said: “We tried to convince people to drink the lake water but they refused. We offered to conduct tests to prove the water is fit to drink. I will talk to officials to allow us to fill the lake from Malaprabha canal till December 20 or 22.”

Comments

Reshma kodialbail
 - 
Wednesday, 5 Dec 2018

Those villagers only going to face afternmath of this senseless action. At that time they may blame administration

Subbu Acharya
 - 
Wednesday, 5 Dec 2018

36acre lake..! Mad people. Drinking water scarcity rise day by day.

Vinod
 - 
Wednesday, 5 Dec 2018

These people are mad. Uneducated. They could use some commonsense

Shahir
 - 
Wednesday, 5 Dec 2018

What ever awareness done among people wont work while they are going face such situation. People think about only themselves. 

Unknown
 - 
Wednesday, 5 Dec 2018

Ousiders will tell anything. But when if you are going to face such incident, nobody will think positively and wont take risk

Viggu Vignesh
 - 
Wednesday, 5 Dec 2018

Strange people

Sandesh Shetty
 - 
Wednesday, 5 Dec 2018

Bizare incident

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News Network
January 17,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 17: Chief minister BS Yediyurappa is likely to induct new ministers into his cabinet only after he returns from Davos, Switzerland, on January 25.

Yediyurappa will leave for Davos on January 19 to participate in the World Economic Forum’s 50th annual meet.

Sources say Yediyurappa is keen on expanding his cabinet before he leaves for Davos and is still trying to secure the green signal from BJP national president Amit Shah. However, Shah has cold-shouldered Yediyurappa’s several requests for a meeting to discuss the issue.

Shah is scheduled to visit Karnataka on January 18 to participate in a pro-Citizenship (Amendment) Act rally in Hubballi and the CM plans to corner him there. But, given the time constraint, Yediyurappa is likely to put off the exercise till he returns from Davos even if Shah extends approval.

“Even if Shah gives the green signal, Yediyurappa will have less than 24 hours to expand his cabinet,” a source said. “It is highly unlikely he will rush through the process of inducting ministers. Also, his presence is required to douse disgruntlement which is bound to arise once the new ministers are sworn in.”

The CM and the party high command are on different pages as far as cabinet expansion is concerned. While Yediyurappa is hell-bent on keeping his promise of inducting all the newly elected MLAs, who switched from Congress and JD(S) to the BJP, Shah is keen on sharing vacant berths equally between loyal MLAs and the new entrants. There are 16 cabinet berths vacant.

Shah, sources said, is of the opinion that giving 12 berths to the turncoats will lead to heartburn among loyalists and it will impact the party’s prospects in the next election. “Moreover, he is of the opinion that none of the turncoats have mass appeal, nor do they have any administrative experience. This, he thinks, will impact governance,” said a source.

This has resulted in a deadlock and the issue has dragged on for a month now.

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coastaldigest.com news network
August 7,2020

Mangaluru, Aug 7: A youth died on the spot in a ghastly road mishap on Netravati Bridge near Thokkottu on the outskirts of the city today evening.

Police sources said that the face of the youth, who was riding a motorbike, has been damaged beyond recognition. He died on the spot. 

More details about the mishap are yet to be known. A case has been registered at Mangaluru Traffic police station.

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News Network
August 4,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 4 : Without mentioning any party leader's name, Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar on Monday appealed to Congress workers not to make any "defamatory statement" against any political leader on social media platforms.

Taking to Twitter, Shivakumar wrote, "I appeal to Congress workers not to make defamatory statements against any political leader, on matters of health and other issues on social media platforms. It is not in our culture to wish bad for others. Congress is a party that exemplifies brotherhood and humanity."

His statement comes days after Rajya Sabha MP and AICC in-charge for Gujarat, Rajiv Satav comment where he suggested that introspection in the party should begin from the time of the United Progressive Alliance -II government.

Later, Satav took to Twitter to clarify his remarks at Thursday's meeting of the party's Upper House MPs. Satav, through a series of tweets on Saturday, said he was not comfortable discussing what goes on inside party meetings in forums outside.

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