It has been a week ever since the strange illness broke out in Andhra Pradesh’s Eluru which has so far killed one and sickened over 600 people, as per the records.
While multiple groups of experts are carrying out various scientific analysis, reports now narrowed down on water and food that the victims consumed.
Available laboratory data points towards vegetables and fish as the possible source of poisonous contaminants in the samples of patients. Pollutants in milk and other dairy products is also been considered. However, the spotlight is now on one of the shocking theories which emerged of late.
According to one of the allegations, it was learnt that the employees on shift a day before the incident were drunk on duty.
The theory that the drunk employees mixed excess chlorine under the influence of alcohol added strength to the test reports which showed traces of organochlorine, organophosphorus.
Further, empty alcohol bottles were spotted at the point where chlorine is mixed into the drinking water. While this angle needs to be probed, the district authorities and the state government has been receiving severe backlash over the incident.
It can be noted that the state government has also constituted a 21-member multi-disciplinary committee, headed by Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney, to probe the source of the infection thoroughly.