A girl died and 50 people have fallen ill after reportedly consuming contaminated water in Guntarala village in Deodurg taluk, about 60 kms from here, on Wednesday morning.

The deceased is identified as Sangeeta (6). The sick are taking treatment in Deodurg government hospital and Mosarakal government clinic.

According to villagers, the people suddenly started vomiting and reported diarrhoea and abdominal pain from Tuesday night and the problem became serious on Wednesday morning.

District Health and Family Welfare Officer Dr. Narayanappa rushed to the village on Wednesday morning and took stock of the situation.

"I think that it is a clear case of water contamination. People in the village have consumed polluted water from a stream nearby village. Some other have drunk tap water directly supplied from a bore-well without purification," Dr. Narayanappa told The Hindu. It may, however, take couple of days to ascertain the exact cause for the problem, he added.

The officer said that he had instructed the concerned Gram Panchayat officials to supply drinking water to people only after chlorination instead of supplying it directly from bore-wells.

"The little water stored in some points of low-lying streambed near the village is contaminated as the pesticides, insecticides and fertilisers content is percolated into it from surrounding fields. The drinking water supply pipe is broken in the same streambed and carried the contaminated stream water to every home in the village," a villager told The Hindu.