Machines churn out fodder, chop limbs

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 10: Safiya, a five-year-old child playing in a neighbour's courtyard in Dhaulana village in Mussoorie had her palm sev...

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 10: Safiya, a five-year-old child playing in a neighbour8217;s courtyard in Dhaulana village in Mussoorie had her palm severed while tinkering with a fodder machine there. That was in 1995. The child who was the youngest of six children in the family was rushed to Gaziabad by her brother Rustam Khan. The doctor said he could try but could not give any guarantee. Five hours having already gone by, the doctor advised them to try their luck in Majeedia Hospital in the capital.

There Dr Lokesh Kumar fixed the limb in a seven-hour operation which cost Safiya8217;s family Rs 80,000. For the doctor, now practising in Apollo Hospital here, that was his first such surgery. But today he is part of an awareness movement launched by fellow surgeons Shahin Nooreyezdan and Kuldeep Singh and a non governmental group Ritinjali targeting villages in northern states where huge numbers of such amputations are being reported thanks to the poor safety regimen followed by makers of fodder machines.

They alsolaunched an interest-free loan scheme for such amputees this week.

As for the havoc caused by fodder machines in the countryside, Safiya8217;s brother gives evidence. 8220;When I went back home after my sister8217;s surgery, I met 10 villagers who had lost their limbs in fodder machines before her,8221; says Rustam.

8220;We plan to create awareness about the need for safety specifications for fodder machines and also to teach people about precautions to be taken while using them and the steps to be taken in case of an amputation,8221; says Arun Kapoor, chairman of Ritinjali.

Safiya was in the capital with three other amputees to recount their experiences on behalf of Ritinjali as it launched its loan scheme funded by corporate groups.

Two-year-old Akshay Kumar who has already benefited from the loan scheme of Ritinjali was also a victim of the unsafe fodder machine. Akshay from Jadoda village in Uttar Pradesh was rushed to nearby Muzaffarnagar and from there taken to Apollo Hospital here, his hand preserved in a bag ofice, recalls father Inderveer Singh.

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But five year old Sachin was not as lucky when he cut his hand a year ago again in a fodder machine in his home at Sonepat, Haryana. His father Suraj Bhan, who teaches in Dariyapur school in the capital, says that the child was taken first to Rohtak from where he was referred immediately to All India Institute of Medical Sciences. 8220;AIIMS sent us to Safdarjung saying they had no beds. And we carried him and his severed limb to Safdarjung which sent us back again to AIIMS. AIIMS referred us to Gangaram Hospital but we decided on our own to go to Apollo,8221; he recalls.

While immediate medical attention is often elusive for amputees who need to undergo surgery within eight hours, the absence of safety norms for fodder machines makes the scene worse.

8220;The state governments refuse to enforce safety norms for fodder machines on the plea that there is not enough data on amputation to justify it,8221; says Kuldeep Singh plastic surgeon in Apollo Hospital. Singh who has had astint in CMC Ludhiana, says that at least four cases of amputation came there daily.