Dehradun/Haldwani, Sept. 10 -- The Uttarakhand high court on Tuesday directed state authorities to roll out a dedicated public complaint helpline within 24 hours and ensure immediate supply of clean drinking water through tankers to all villages and schools affected by water supply contamination in Nainital district. A division bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Justice Siddhartha Sah was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Ravi Bisht on Tuesday. The directions came a day after the court summoned senior district and water supply officials over reports of two deaths and several people falling ill after consuming contaminated drinking water in areas around Nainital. District magistrate Lalit Mohan Rayal, chief medical officer Dr Rashmi Pant, Jal Sansthan superintending engineer Vishal Kumar, Jal Sansthan executive engineer Anish Pillai, and Uttarakhand Pey Jal Nigam chief engineer (Kumaon) Alok Kumar appeared before the bench on Tuesday. DM Rayal said an initial sum of Rs.4 lakh was released from the untied fund to conduct serological tests of infected residents through private pathology laboratories. He said additional funds would be sanctioned as required. The district administration also told the bench that water tankers were being deployed to supply clean drinking water to affected villages and local schools. Dr Pant briefed the court on the medical intervention undertaken to contain the spread of the water-borne disease. The bench, however, sought a more coordinated response and directed the district magistrate to personally oversee relief operations and ensure coordination among the departments involved. "The agency responsible for maintaining water supply pipelines shall ensure that no further contamination of drinking water takes place,"said the order. The court ordered that a dedicated and widely publicised complaint helpline for reporting water contamination alerts be established within 24 hours. It also directed the water supply authorities to immediately repair distribution lines to prevent recurring leakages and seepage that could contaminate drinking water supplies. Expanding the scope of monitoring, the bench directed the Regional Officer of the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board to collect water samples from all affected rural areas as well as Nainital town. The samples are to be tested and a report submitted to the court within seven days. The court also directed the authorities concerned to take a decision within four weeks on a proposal dated January 15 concerning the establishment of a dedicated regional water-testing laboratory for Kumaon. The next hearing is scheduled on September 15. On Wednesday, Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan established dedicated complaint redressal centres, or control rooms, for urban and rural areas under its Nainital branch. Executive engineer Anish Pillai said residents facing drinking water or sewerage-related problems can contact the relevant control room or departmental engineers. For Nainital city, the control room at the main pump house, Mallital, can be contacted at 05942-235097. The department's toll-free number is 18001804100. Residents can also contact assistant engineer Anshul Ojha at 8209993096, additional assistant engineer Chetan Kumar at 9720527721 and junior engineer Gajendra Singh Gadiya at 7351703933. Complaints can also be made through calls or WhatsApp video at 8630505740, or emailed to ujanainital1975@yahoo.com....