This was established when some more people of the area were confirmed to be suffering from water-borne diseases, in a survey by the Health Department on Saturday. Dr Ram Kumar, Senior Medical Officer from Civil Hospital, Dera Bassi, headed the medical team for the survey. He called the situation as ‘routine’ and ‘not alarming’, as only two patients were found to be suffering from viral fever.

Dr Ram Kumar also stressed upon the need for checking the supply of contaminated water in the village at the earliest, to avoid the threat of an epidemic. The medical team distributed free chlorine tablets in the village and instructed villagers to consume boiled water only.

Residents of Dhakoli said they have been receiving contaminated water for the past one week, but their repeated complaints to the civic authority have not yielded any response.

However, Public Health Department officials claimed that efforts are being made to find out the reason for the contamination of water.