Health department officials, who visited the locality to take the stock of the situation, maintained that broken water pipelines and unhygienic conditions had led to the spread of the disease.

The areas affected by the disease include Ambedkar Nagar, Madina Masjid, Tiwaripur and Manohar Nagar among others. Following complaints of severe stomachache and indigestion, many have been admitted at the local hospitals and nursing homes.

The patients included Dhiraj Kumar (17), Akhtari Begum (45), Nisha (9), Yasmin (25), Hasan Raja (7) and Narendra Singh (55) among others.

Reportedly, the overhead water tank in Jajmau has not been cleaned for last 17 months and the drinking water has turned yellowish with bad odour and taste.

Local corporator Shamim Azad said that the tank was last cleaned on May 20, 1996. Since then, nobody had checked the quality of water being supplied to locals.

He also alleged that Jal Nigam officials, who were provided bleaching powder for purifying the water, sold the stuff to tannery owners.

Local Mohammed Moin said that as he has private boring water facility, he was therefore distributing drinking water to locals here.

“Jajmau area has not been cleaned for a long time. Garbage was dumped around the hand pumps and water taps, while the sewage system was completely neglected,” he added.

Dr Nasir Khan, a private nursing home owner, said that the spread of the disease could have been controlled if the Health department and Jal Nagar Nigam would have acted on time.