For the past two weeks, residents of the Dhauladevi block in Uttarakhand’s Almora district have been gripped by fear. A sudden outbreak of fever has swept through at least five villages — Devlibagad, Viwadi, Dhuratak, Mala and Kheti — killing nine people and leaving more than 50 seriously ill.
What began as a bout of fever, initially dismissed as the result of changing weather, soon turned deadly. Within days, elderly residents began dying as their condition deteriorated rapidly. “Most of the deceased were between 50 and 70 years old,” said Ganesh Pandey, a resident. “Entire families were falling ill at once, and hospitals are too far away. By the time help arrived, it was too late.”
Once the deaths drew the attention of the health department, teams of doctors were dispatched to the affected areas. Tests revealed that the cause was not a mysterious new disease, but a bacterial infection spread through contaminated drinking water.
Investigations showed that the water tanks supplying the villages were polluted with coliform bacteria — an indicator of faecal contamination, capable of spreading illnesses such as typhoid, diarrhoea and cholera.
District Surveillance Officer Dr Kamlesh Joshi confirmed the findings: “Coliform bacteria were found in the water tanks. The samples have been sent to the Water Institute for analysis. Chlorination has been carried out, and people have been advised to boil water before drinking.”
Villagers said they had been complaining for months about the poor condition of the water supply. “The tanks are never cleaned on time,” said Suresh Pandey, a resident of Dhar. Around 7,000 people in the Dhauladevi block rely on the Saryu-Danya drinking water scheme, which channels water from a tank in Urdheshwar — now found to be contaminated.
According to Dr NC Tiwari, Almora’s Chief Medical Officer, blood samples from 11 hospitalised patients were tested, with four returning positive for typhoid. “The illness is the result of contaminated water,” he said. “Sixteen health teams have been deployed across the affected villages to screen residents and provide treatment.”
Preliminary inquiries point to a broken pipeline that allowed dirty water to mix with drinking water — a failure that went unnoticed for weeks. “Medical teams are continuously monitoring the situation,” said Dr Yogesh Purohit, additional chief medical officer. “Those with severe symptoms are being admitted to hospitals, and awareness drives are being carried out in all villages.”
Among the deceased were 75-year-old Ganga Dutt Joshi and 60-year-old Harish Chandra Joshi of Bibadi village, who died on the same day. Their family members are also reported to be unwell. Others who succumbed include 68-year-old Madan Ram of Kabhari village, 50-year-old ASHA worker Hansi Bhatt of Jageshwar, Pandit Shailendra Pandey of Kheti village, and Govind Singh Khani of Naini Bajela.
Villagers believe that timely testing could have saved lives. “If the water had been checked earlier, these deaths might not have happened,” one resident said.
The outbreak has exposed the chronic neglect of infrastructure and healthcare in Uttarakhand’s mountain villages. Regular cleaning of water tanks, maintenance of pipelines, and proactive testing are often ignored until a crisis erupts. Health services in remote areas remain scarce, forcing authorities to respond only after outbreaks claim lives.
Dhauladevi’s tragedy is a microcosm of a larger crisis — hundreds of hill villages battling invisible threats from contaminated water and fragile health systems. Many residents have now begun cleaning their wells and tanks on their own. While that’s a sign of community initiative, it also underscores the state’s failure. Water and health departments must work together to overhaul the system, ensuring clean water and routine monitoring. Unless that happens, the fear that now grips Dhauladevi could revisit other villages in the mountains — with deadlier consequences.