While cleaning contaminated wells :

Eight die after inhaling poisonous gas

by Carol Aloysius

Recent media reports have highlighted a shocking incident of eight people suffering from the deadly effects of inhaling poisonous gas while cleaning a drinking water well at the Lunugala Maha Vidyalaya.

Three of the men had entered the well allegedly operating a water pump fuelled by petrol or diesel to clean the contaminated water and had fallen unconscious.

Five others who had come to help had immediately jumped into the well to rescue the three and also fallen unconscious. While three of them were declared dead on arrival at the nearby Lunugala District hospital, the other five survived the near fatal accident – thanks to the speedy interventions of the doctors on duty.

The incident which caused panic and shock among residents of this little village in the Uva Province and fear among the students using the well, has raised some serious questions that need to be answered: Could these accidents have been prevented with proper safeguards in place If so what are they Are there laws relating to safeguard those cleaning wells and pits How many accidents of this nature take place in homes, schools, temples and private places  How many are reported

To find out what exactly had taken place, the Sunday Observer first contacted the Lunugala District Hospital (a kilometre away from the school,) to where the victims were rushed for treatment.

Its close proximity to Lunugala Maha Vidyalaya informed sources said, was probably one factor that helped save the lives of the five Good Samaritans who sought to rescue their three less fortunate friends.

The District Medical Officer Dr. D.M. Samarasinghe said, “it was too early to say what exactly had caused the death of the three persons who were in the well, as their bodies had been sent to the Badulla District Hospital for the post-mortem examination. What we do know is that they had not used an electric pump to clean the well and had instead used either a petrol or diesel pump.

If that was the case, they could have been exposed to a mixture of poisonous gases such as methane and carbon dioxide and fallen unconscious and died. Or they could have fallen into the well after being affected by the gases and drowned. Both have fatal results and both are strong possibilities according to the evidence we have.”

Cleaning agents used during floods

The raging floods in several districts across the island has prompted the Health Ministry to send out an SOS for a number of urgently needed items for affected persons. One of them is purification tablets to clean wells, where water has become contaminated with bacteria from the ground. We asked the Coordinator Disaster Management Unit, Health Ministry, Dr Hemantha Herath what these were and how safe they were .

“ We distribute chlorine powder for wells and tablets to purify drinking water. It is unlikely there will be any adverse side effects from chlorine which gets absorbed in small amounts in the water. Any excess amount can only leave a bad taste in the mouth but nothing more”, he said.

Dr Gunethileke confirmed his statement when he said, “ Chlorine has been used to clean wells and drinking water for a long time. Up to now, we have had no reports of chlorine toxification.”