JJ Nagar a cesspool of diseases

JJ Nagar a cesspool of diseases
Pourakarmikas’ Layout A Breeding Ground For Malaria And Chikungunya
Nirmala M Nagaraj | TNN

Bangalore: They toil to keep the city tidy. Sweep the streets, clean the drains and clear the garbage. But the area where the pourakarmikas live stinks. And here is where the deadly contagious combination of malaria and chikungunya thrives.
The Jagjivan Ram Nagar Salappa Layout, where more than 2,500 BBMP workers live, paints an ugly scene. Residents have to regularly fight water-borne and mosquito-borne diseases. Amidst the overflowing open drains and scattered garbage, the workers live in constant fear of water contamination due to leakages in the drinking water and sewage lines.
The most recent victim of this unhygienic environ was 36-year-old Maruthi, who died of suspected cerebral malaria at Victoria Hospital last Friday. After his death, anxious residents have been rushing to hospitals even for mild symptoms like body pain.
WIDOW’S PLIGHT
Maruthi’s widow Prema, who has a 5-year-old son, is tired of convincing the BBMP health officials that the cause of her husband’s death is malaria. “Victoria and K C General Hospital’s reports state the cause of death as cerebral malaria, but BBMP health officer Dr Gayatri is not accepting the hospital report and is insisting on a post-mortem report,” said Prema.
Pourakarmikas who held a protest in front of BBMP office with Maruthi’s body, demanding compensation for his death, are planning to go on an indefinite strike if the family is denied justice.
Health officer Dr L T Gayatri says the cause of death is not malaria and that it’s a false claim.
In the past one week, around 200 people from JJ Nagar have been treated for viral fever. Forty-two smears of suspected cases of malaria and 15 blood samples for suspected cases of chikungunya have been sent for lab tests. Not a single positive case has been reported from the area till date, BBMP doctors say.
However, almost every house in the area has more than three members suffering from fever and joint pain. The BBMP referral maternity hospital has been treating more than 60 outpatients everyday with symptoms of viral fever and chikungunya.
HEALTH CARD NOT SUFFICIENT
Pourakarmika Nagamma, whose husband, son and daughter-in-law are down with symptoms of chikungunya, says: “The BBMP referral hospital doctors often complain of shortage of medicine and prescribe medicines from outside, which are expensive.” Pourakarmikas complain that the BBMP’s health card is not serving the purpose as most of the 82 networked hospitals listed in the card refuse to treat the patients. “To remove a dangerous tumour growth in the stomach, it cost us Rs 90,000 at Sagar hospital. But BBMP health card sanctions only Rs 2,000. So majority of the network hospitals refuse to accept these cards,” said Venkatarama C S.