No epidemic but the fear’s worse at new Ground Zero

‘‘More than 2,000 people came in two days,’’ said Deputy Municipal Commissioner V N Kalam Patil, sent in by the civic administration to monitor the medical camps working round the clock in Bharat Nagar, a 90-per cent Muslim ghetto of 1.5 lakh poor traders, shop owners, scrap dealers and daily wagers. Seven people have died in this single colony.

‘‘On Thursday night, people panicked as word spread,’’ said local Congress corporator Lal Mohammed Shaikh. ‘‘They were rushing to the medical camps, just in case.’’

Across the road, Gausiya Compound in Kherwadi and Behrampada were also buzzing with news — and rumours — of a mysterious fever despatching people by the dozens to hospitals.

After all, these shanty colonies had been submerged in up to five feet of water on July 26-27, houses nudged further into a giant saucer as the plush Bandra Kurla Complex and its sparkling glass facades stood up on reclaimed land opposite.

As Municipal Commissioner Johny Joseph sped home at 10 pm on Thursday, he told The Indian Express: ‘‘Hundreds of people are still waiting for screening at the medical camps in Bharat Nagar. It’s among the worst affected areas now.’’

From 10 pm on Thursday till 3 am on Friday, seven medical camps screened 371 patients complaining of fever and vomitting. Mohammed Billal, a 30-year-old paan shop owner, had to be hospitalised. He spent Friday on one of the five beds in the corridor outside the K B Bhabha Municipal Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, wincing each time the IV drip shifted.

‘‘Water till here,’’ said Tafazzul Hussain, standing up wearily to display his 5-feet-6-inch frame and pointing to his shoulder. By the time water receded from his 10-foot-by-15-foot Behrampada home, he’d lost everything he owned, along with two working days.

The Rs 5,000-relief is running out fast, said the autorickshaw driver as wife Sultana writhed in pain on a hospital bench. Having spent restless hours cradling Sultana’s head, Hussain left at noon, leaving his sister-in-law to collect the medicines.

In Bhabha Hospital, Thursday night’s rush of patients had slowed to a trickle by Friday noon. Minutes before CM Vilasrao Deshmukh and Joseph visited, the complex was fumigated, while corporators and legislator Baba Siddique milled around the bustling casualty section.

The shanty towns had found their calm, but only just.

Bharat Nagar has seen only six trucks of grain and two of kerosene, locals said. Corporator Shaikh said a couple of slumdwellers died at home. ‘‘Nobody can tell how many went unreported,’’ he said.