Residents of Magaramkent District Villages Report Lack of Water Supply

Since the morning, in the villages of the Magaramkent district, where cases of mass poisoning were recorded, there was no water delivery, villagers are buying up bottled water, local residents said. The authorities reported plans to organize the delivery of drinking water to five villages and closed kindergartens in them.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, 110 people sought medical attention in the Magaramkent district with symptoms of poisoning, 18 of them
were hospitalized. Doctors assess the patients' condition as mild to moderate. Mass poisoning of residents in five settlements of the Magaramkent district (Magaramkent, Kuysun, Gilar, Gaptsakh and Verkhniy Tagirkent) occurred, according to a preliminary assessment by Rospotrebnadzor, due to drinking water.

The Investigative Committee of Dagestan opened a criminal case under the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Performing work or rendering services that do not meet the safety requirements for the health of consumers," the Investigative Committee of the Republic reported on its Telegram channel.

"Cases of the disease have been identified among children from three to 14 years old, mainly mild forms are registered, qualified assistance is provided in full," Rospotrebnadzor of Dagestan reported on its Telegram channel, without specifying the number of sick children.

A representative of the department told a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot" that complaints about the condition have so far come from only five settlements, door-to-door visits are being conducted to identify all victims.

He specified that Rospotrebnadzor specialists are taking samples of water and biomaterial from the victims; at this time, there is no official conclusion yet. It is likely that the infection came from the Dzhepelsky water source, located approximately 14 kilometers from the village of Magaramkent, the speaker said.

The Dzhepelsky water source is the main one, from where drinking water is supplied through the Dzhepel - Gilyar - Kuysun - Magaramkent - Gaptsakh water pipeline to the settlements of the Magaramkent district, an district administration employee told a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot".

The water supply has not been suspended at the moment, but residents are strictly recommended to use only bottled or boiled water for drinking and cooking, he noted. The possibility of delivering clean drinking water to people is being discussed, the district administration noted.

There was no water delivery as of 11:00 Moscow time, Magaramkent resident Rasim told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. There is no rush to buy clean water yet, but people are buying it en masse in stores, the man said.

"There was bottled water in stores this morning, but it is being actively bought up, we don't know what to do next. We are trying to save money for now," said Magaramkent resident Salim.

The Magaramkent district administration reported on the introduction of a high alert regime in the district from today. Following the meeting, the authorities also decided to organize the delivery of drinking water to the villages of Kuysun, Gilyar, Magaramkent and Gaptsakh; to purchase bottled water and, first of all, provide it to socially significant facilities; to suspend the work of kindergartens in these villages until the situation stabilizes, according to a message in the Telegram channel of the district administration dated 12:17 Moscow time.

Earlier, "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote that at the beginning of June 2024, at least 228 people were hospitalized in Buynaksk after mass poisoning. On June 11, the Rospotrebnadzor Administration announced that tap water was the source of mass infection of the townspeople, and six of the sick were found to have several intestinal infections: dysentery, norovirus and rotavirus. Mass poisonings in the city are occurring due to sewage entering worn-out water supply networks and illegal taps into the water supply system, Dagestani specialists have indicated. In March, the case of the former acting director of Buinakskvodokanal was transferred to court.

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