JALANDHAR: Ten have already died of suspected gastroenteritis and hundreds are flocking to private and government doctors but the district authorities continue to be blissfully unaware of the situation which has worsened over the past month.
Most of the deaths have been re- ported from Bhargo camp – a 4,000- house slum locality which is home to around 50,000 persons. The district health authorities maintain that they do not have any information about the deaths due to gastroenteritis or any other water-borne disease even as the residents of Bhargo camp, which this correspondent visited last week, re- ported a death or two from nearly every locality due to diarrhea and vomiting.
According to the information collected, the dead include 10-month- old Reena and six-year-old Arpan, children of one Leela Devi; two-year- old Surinder Kumar, 12-year-old Anju, a 13-year-old boy, a 23-year- old pregnant woman, one-and-a-half- year-old Hari Dev, 45-yrs-old Vidya Devi, who died after only a day of acute vomiting and diarrhea, Pinki, 27, and 11-yrs-old Rajni.
Most of the doctors in the area have been reporting about five to seven suspected gastroenteritis cases daily. Dr. R.K. Pal, one of the prominent doctors, estimates that about 300 per- sons are suffering from water-borne diseases in Bhargo camp alone. Be- sides this, about 200 cases have been reported at the Civil Hospital from various parts of the district. Most of the deaths occurred while patients were undergoing treatment at the hands of local doctors of the camp though some also went to private hospitals in the city.
Officials posted there expressed surprise when asked about the deaths. Similarly, the officiating Deputy Commissioner, K.K. Janjua, and the District Civil Surgeon, Dr. S.S. Walia, also expressed ignorance.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 1, 1995
