India, Feb. 17 -- Health authorities in Haryana's Palwal district have declared an emergency in Chayansa village, marking the latest escalation in a series of water and blood-borne disease outbreaks that have claimed lives and affected hundreds across four states over the last few weeks.

This incident in Haryana - over a dozen deaths in about a month, at least six of them linked to liver ailments - comes amid a pattern of infra failures and water contamination, from high-rises in Kolkata, West Bengal, to the planned sectors of Gandhinagar in Gujarat, to "India's cleanest" Indore in Madhya Pradesh. All within the last few weeks.

In Palwal's Chayansa village, a rapid response team is currently camping to contain an outbreak that has seen ...