Seventy dead and 69 injured the toll for the building collapse in Lalita Park may be mere figures for a majority,but those whose loved ones are part of this statistics are finding the reality hard to bear. To help injured victims who lost family members to the tragedy,the government,along with the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) has begun a counselling programme. There are at least 25 women who have either lost their husband or a child in the incident. We felt it is not enough for them to be treated for physical injuries; they require counselling to help bring them back from the brink, said Health Minister Kiran Walia. From November 18,teams of psychiatrists started doing the rounds of all the hospitals,speaking to injured. Our institute has immense experience in handling trauma related to disaster. We are going to the patients with a few principles more than psychiatric help they require a hand to hold and a patient ear, said Dr Nimesh G Desai,Medical Superintendent of IHBAS. Every morning and evening,the teams visit the patients and have a chat with them. I have told my team not to approach them with the specialist tag. At the same time,however,they should not miss out noting any major disorder, Dr Desai said. More than 45 survivors of the building collapse have already left for their villages in Saharsa and Katihar districts in Bihar. Currently most of them are still in physical pain,but we are prescribing medicines if any of them faces sleeping disorders,headache,restlessness or agitation, Dr Adeet Yadav,one of the counsellors,told Newsline. The counsellors are also working as an interface between the doctors at the hospitals and the patients. Yesterday,there was a lack of general physicians at the hospital as most of them were on the field. The patients said their dressing had not been changed,so we spoke to doctors and got it changed, Dr Yadav added. The two camps at the site,where a few of the survivors are staying,will,meanwhile,be retained for the next fortnight. Most of them have no place to go,so we will not discontinue the camps soon, Walia added. The Revenue department will begin distribution of the compensation cheques only by next week. We will be distributing the cheques to the injured first. For the deceased,we have written to the district administration of Bihar and West Bengal to help identify the legal heir, said Deputy Commissioner (East) S S Ghonkrokta. Two more bodies were identified at on Monday. Only one unidentified body now remains at Lok Nayak Hospitals morgue .
