Fearing that AIDS will spread to the entire village after a HIV patient committed suicide by jumping into the tank, residents of Morab in Navalgund taluk in the district have started emptying it.
The tank stores water supplied from the Malaprabha reservoir, for drinking purposes. The woman had ended her life three days ago.
The residents, with the support of the gram panchayat, have installed 20 pumpsets to drain out the water from the tank. The water is flowing into the fields and into the gutters.
Many fear that fish and other aquatic creatures in the water may die. The residents have gone ahead in emptying the tank, unmindful of the problems faced by women who have to now walk two km to get a pot of drinking water.
The tahsildar tried to convince the residents to drop their plan of emptying the tank, but in vain.
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