14 die in jaundice epidemic in Kalyan

May 3: Jaundice is sweeping the suburbs of Dombivli, Kalyan, Ulhasnagar and Ambernath; unofficially, that is. Over the last eight days, 14 h...

May 3: Jaundice is sweeping the suburbs of Dombivli, Kalyan, Ulhasnagar and Ambernath; unofficially, that is. Over the last eight days, 14 have died in the outbreak, and although private practitioners say the illness has reached epidemic proportions, Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation KDMC officials have denied any epidemic, saying few cases have been registered in civic hospitals.

While six persons have died in Kalyan, eight persons have died in Ulhasnagar and Ambernath. Most victims were being treated at private practitioners. Five-year-old Seema, who was undergoing treatment from a private doctor over the last fortnight, died on Thursday. The bereaved Kale family is bitter at the civic administration8217;s apathy. quot;Now that she is dead, will the municipal authorities bring her alive?quot; said her father Raju Kale. quot;Maybe they will want to do something if one of the corporators8217; or officials8217; children die.quot;

The victims, driven to private health care because of the inefficacy of municipal medicine, are nowconfronted with typical bureaucratese: KDMC authorities prop up low or zero number of cases in civic hospitals as proof8217; of exaggerated fears of an epidemic. In fact, when a corporator had raised this issue at a recent general body meeting, the health department denied that there was any high incidence of jaundice. Stated assistant public health officer D P Kamble: quot;How am I supposed to know what happens in private hospitals? There is hardly a case or two in civic hospitals.quot; And deputy municipal commissioner for sanitation, D S Lokhande, stated: quot;We are here to take care of sanitation, which we are doing. The outbreak of a disease is the responsibility of government hospitals.quot;

This squabbling, though, is neither preventing the deaths nor people from flocking to private doctors, sometimes even practitioners of traditional medicine8217; for treatment. Said Yashodabai Jadhav, lined up since morning in a kilometre-long queue outside a hakim8217;s clinic at Krishna Talkies at Shiva Chowk, Kalyan, quot;I have come allthe way from Ambernath to get treated here.quot; She has no faith in municipal hospitals, she says. quot;I have been taking medicines given at the government hospital in Ulhasnagar the whole of last week, but there has been no improvement in my condition.quot;

Residents blame the outbreak on contaminated water supply. Said Kamala Tari, a resident of Konkan Housing society near Birla College, Kalyan, the bottom of the steel pitcher where the suspended particles have sedimented. quot;Either there is no water supply, or, when there is, we are forced to do with contaminated water,quot; she complained. Added KDMC corporator Anil Bhade, fast food carts dotting the suburbs have spread unchecked and pose a serious health hazard. quot;The administration is doing little to discourage these businesses,quot; he said.

S M Gupta, an Ulhasnagar-based doctor, added that private practitioners fail to inform authorities when they get cases, adding to misinformation. quot;This is necessary according to the rules, but nobody seems to be following them,quot; hesaid.

And panic is spreading spreading among residents who have to live with drain water seeping into tap-water. Displaying a glass of glass of sewerage-laced water, Sheela Kripalani of Camp No 4 where said: quot;We are forced to put up with this because there is hardly any alternative. Repeated memoranda to the water and health department officials and the commissioner himself has produced no results.quot;