Villagers drain 36acre lake after HIV woman drowns in it

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.”