Sardar Tara Singh, who handles the civic health portfolio, stated on Friday that only the death of 4-year-old Hema Bahadur Sona on June 14, 1998 was officially registered while death of four other children could not be ascertained since the bodies were buried by the families.

Singh said the children lived in a huge slum pocket which has no civic infrastructure including toilets and drinking water facilities. There is one community well which doubles up as source for drinking water and washing clothes.

Executive health officer Dr Alka Karande informed that no local doctors were approached for treatment, there were no death certificates obtained and neither as the civic office informed of the deaths. ``With theexception of vomiting and diarrhoea in one case, it is premature to presume that the deaths were also caused by gastro enteritis,'' said the civic health office.

Karande said that water-borne diseases were prevalent during the monsoons. Open wells posed a high risk of contamination and unclean water if consumed would mean inviting trouble. ``Extra care should be taken during monsoons and water should be boiled and strained before drinking,'' she advised.

The civic health officer stated that statistics of the last three years showed that the five deaths in Pimpripada could not have been due to gastro enteritis. Since July 1 this year, 581 gastro cases have been detected with seven deaths so far in different parts of the city, she stated, adding that due to an increased awareness and timely treatment cases of gastro enteritis were on the decline.

She revealed that BMC's hydraulic department collects samples from 10 spots in every ward to check for contamination. These samples are sent for analysis andmonitored by the deputy municipal commissioner (special engineering).

However, she could not reply in the affirmative when asked if the checks also covered wells which are used by slum-dwellers. ``There are 7,000 wells in the city out of which half are closed and sealed. The others are used for washing or gardening purposes,'' she said.

Karande admitted that in several slum pockets residents have no choice but to use unguarded well water. ``The slums may not be supplied drinking water if they are unauthorised. That is the problem of the higher authorities. With no medical certification of the deaths, we cannot establish the cause of the deaths.''

Meanwhile, Subhash Kanta Sawant, who is in charge of the solid wastes management portfolio, said that the civic corporation is considering ban on the use of plastic carry bags.

``The Mayor will seek legal opinion before forwarding the matter for approval to the state government,'' the corporator stated.