The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Pollution-related diseases high in Patancheru area

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 27, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Pollution-related diseases high in Patancheru area

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, OCT. 26. A community health study by Greenpeace in nine villages in the Patancheru industrial area, one of the 24 environmental hotspots in the country, has revealed "abnormally high incidence" of pollution-related diseases like cancer, respiratory and heart diseases caused by "cocktail of poisons in air, water and land".

Releasing the report, "State of Community Health at Medak district", Bidhan Chandra Singh and Sanjiv Gopal, Principal Research Investigator and Campaigner respectively of Greenpeace India, said the comparative study was significantly different from previous studies in that it had a large sample size of 10,874 people. Of them 8925 were from the nine study-group villages exposed to industrial pollution for over two decades and 1949 in the four control group villages having no industry. The reports were handed over to sarpanches of the study villages.

They said the findings of the study were "far more shocking than we had expected". It revealed an overwhelming increase in most types of diseases across the study group as compared to the control group.

Shocking findings

Clinically confirmed cancer was found to be 11 times higher in the study group. Respiratory diseases affected one in every 20 persons. Heart diseases were 16 times higher. Congenital malformations and chromosomal abnormalities were 3.93 times higher.

When it comes to systemic diseases it was no better. Diseases of the nervous system were three times higher and circulatory system two times higher.

Those of endocrine, nutritional and metabolic systems were 1.84 times higher. Disorders of blood and blood forming organs were 2.9 times higher and those of skin and sub-cutaneous tissues 2.67 times more than in control group.

Questionnaire

The study was conducted by administering an open-ended exploratory questionnaire to document the health-related information of the people in the study villages of Bonthapally, Chitkul, Digwal, Gaddapotharamu, Kazipally, Kistareddypet, Pasha Mailaram, Pocharam and Sultanpur in Patancheru, Jinnaram and Kohir mandals of Medak district.

These results were then compared with those obtained in control villages of Musapet, Ramojipally, Uthloor and Veerojipally in the Shankarampet mandal of the same district.

In the light of these findings, the Greenpeace activists have demanded immediate health assistance to community and long-term medical rehabilitation of affected persons. A state of chemical crisis should be declared in the area and ensure that the industry practices zero discharge of toxic effluents into water bodies. The industries should also be made to disclose to the community all the details of health effects of chemicals used in industrial products and processes and the wastes generated.

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