OneWorld.net (U.S.)

More than 75 people, mostly children, have been reported dead after drinking polluted water while another 6,600 have been hospitalised over last six weeks across Pakistan's southern province of Sindh, a health activist told IRIN. He also expressed grave concern over the negligence of water and sanitation authorities.

"The entire summer season is lying ahead but local municipal authorities have not taken any steps to improve the situation. Contaminated water is continuously being supplied and people are falling ill but no one is bothering to stop this," Dr Ghulam Mustafa Talpur, a water and health activist working with the Pakistan branch of the international developmental NGO, Actionaid, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

The first outbreak was reported in April and people have been suffering from diarrhoea and stomach problems caused by water borne diseases.

Source: IRIN