GBS Outbreak: Pune Civic Body Seals 19 Private RO Water Plants

Pune authorities sealed 19 private RO plants in Nanded after tests found E coli contamination, linking unsafe drinking water to the GBS outbreak.

Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation has sealed 19 private RO plants in the Nanded village area, the epicentre of the Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) outbreak after tests confirmed water from these facilities was unfit for drinking, officials said.

Four fresh cases of suspected GBS, a nerve disorder, were reported in Pune district on Wednesday, taking the overall tally in Maharashtra to 170, they said. The now-sealed privately owned reverse-osmosis (RO) plants, located in the Dhayari-Nanded area, supplied bottled water to a large number of people in the vicinity.

Following the crackdown, the Pune Municipal Corporation's (PMC) water supply department announced plans to formulate standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent the distribution of contaminated water in the area.

“During the investigation of water samples collected from some privately run RO plants, it was found that water from 19 such RO plants operating in the Nanded and adjoining area was unfit for drinking. Accordingly, all these 19 RO plants were sealed and their functioning has been stopped,” PMC's additional commissioner Prithviraj P B said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, PMC's water supply department head Nandkishor Jagtap said they found Escherichia coli bacteria in samples collected from these 19 RO plants.

In the wake of the discovery of E.coli, private water suppliers have been asked to use bleaching powder solution provided by the PMC to ensure the bacteria is contained, he said.

On Tuesday, members of a rapid response team formed to probe the GBS outbreak in Nanded village and adjoining localities in Sinhagad Road area said there was no chlorine in the drinking water supplied to households of 26 suspected patients of the nerve disorder.

GBS causes sudden numbness and muscle weakness, with symptoms including severe weakness in the limbs.