One of the smaller tanks in Totopara. File picture

Alipurduar, May 6: At least hundred members of the primitive Toto tribe are down with water-borne diseases at Totopara where water is supplied from a reservoir that has not been cleaned up in the past 15 years.

Around 1,000 persons live in Totopara, the only place in the country where the community is found.

“Almost 15 years ago a tank with a capacity to store 2,000 litre was built by the public health engineering department at Pakhagaon, about 1km from Totopara. The water is brought to the reservoir through a series of pipes from a stream called Tadri that flows down from the Bhutan Hills. We fear that the water has become contaminated as the tank is never cleaned and the pipes that bring the water has developed leaks at many places,” said Bakul Toto.

According to the local people, the reservoir has not been cleaned even once after it was built.

Bakul said there were five smaller tanks in Totopara, 73km from here, in which water from the main tank is deposited through pipelines.

With the ground being hard and rocky there are no tube wells in the area and the only source of drinking water is the reservoir at Pakhagaon.

According to Bakul, for about the past seven days local people were regularly reporting at the Totopara primary health centre with stomach problems. “The doctor at the health centre asked us to check our source of drinking water and yesterday I and some others went to Pakhagaon and inspected the main tank. The water has gone black and was smelling and there was mud inside the tank,” Bakul said.

He added that the block office was informed yesterday about the condition of the reservoir but nothing has been done as yet.

“We are grateful to the doctors at the health centre who are treating us with care and there has been no casualty so far. But many people are still admitted to the health centre,” Bakul said.

Rajkumar Saha, the doctor at the primary health centre, said at least 10 to 15 persons were coming for treatment everyday. “They are suffering from water-borne diseases and I have asked them to boil water before drinking and also to check the source of the water. However, the situation is not alarming and many patients have recovered,” said the doctor. He added that currently 16 persons were admitted to the facility with enteric diseases.

Kamal Roy, karmadhakshya of the public health engineering department, said he came to know about the matter yesterday.

“I am taking immediate steps to supply clean drinking water to Totopara and sending men to clean up the reservoir,” he said.