Patiala, July 22 -- The district experienced a diarrhoea outbreak for the second time in the past two weeks. Over 17 people, including children, have been taken ill at Changera village in the Rajpura block of Patiala, while a 76-year-old man from the village died at Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh. Earlier in the month, four people died due to diarrhoea while over 140 had fallen ill at Alipur Arriyan village in Patiala. Three patients are still in the hospital, say Patiala health department officials. The alert system was triggered when This prompted authorities to investigate a potential outbreak. They claimed that they got an alert about the outbreak when several residents were hospitalised with diarrhoea symptoms and a 67-year-old man was suspected to have died from the illness. The health department on Sunday dispatched their teams to the outbreak-affected area to conduct a survey there to identify the number of the people suffering from diarrhoea. Rajpura sub-divisional magistrate Avikesh Gupta said, "I have distributed chlorine tablets and ORS to the affected people in the village and told them to drink water only after boiling it." When asked about the possible reasons for the outbreak, Avikesh explained that they had identified two leakages in the water pipeline. "There is a possible contamination of drinking water because of leakages in the main supply pipeline. The corrective measures are being carried out. We are hopeful that we will soon restore the water supply through the pipeline," said Avikesh. It has been learned that extensive use of tullu pumps have caused the leakages, and then the mixing of dirty water with drinking water. Meanwhile, Patiala health department officials said that Chlorine tablets had already been distributed in the affected area. "Potable water is being supplied through a water tank. We are organising a medical camp in the village and are closely monitoring the situation," said Dr Divjot....