The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : ‘Dengue colonies’ revisited

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 22, 2007
ePaper

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

‘Dengue colonies’ revisited

High-risk Tallagadda remains so even after one year

No End to Misery: Alluri Sitaramaraju Nagar, Tallagadda, Karwan is a ticking ‘chikungunya-dengue bomb’ waiting to explode any time. -

HYDERABAD: A sense of ‘nausea’ stays with you throughout the day, although your visit to the place lasts only for a short time. The urge to eat or quench one’s thirst ‘fades away’ after that encounter. These were the same colonies, from which last year three positive dengue cases and numerous cases of chikungunya were reported.

Health officials had declared Tallagadda in Karwan as a potentially ‘high risk zone’ and ironically, even after one year, it continues to remain so. The area is the ‘ground zero’ for epidemic diseases and is once again on the verge of becoming a ‘dengue and chikungunya zone’ unless officials seriously try to salvage the situation.

Fever cases

Already, cases of viral fevers among children are on the rise at Alluri Sitaramraju Nagar located behind Tallagadda main road from where cases of dengue and chikungunya were first reported. A huge open drain dissects this colony, inundating the houses with drain water whenever it pours heavily.

The families here earn their bread by picking garbage for others.

That makes them and their children susceptible to all kinds of ailments. Lack of drainage facility is compelling them to drain out water used for ablutions into the open.

Mosquitoes breed in these puddles of water.

Weaker sections

“This place belongs to weaker sections and its quite obvious that no one is bothered about it. This is the most stinking and potentially a ticking bomb for epidemic diseases. Health and cleaning staff of Baldia do have a habit of visiting this place after an epidemic breaks out,” points out Purushottam Yadav, a local.

A kilometre down this road, a stretch at Bhagwandas Bagh near Annapurna temple of Karwan, is immersed in drain water.

The Government Primary School of Zaffarguda abutting Bhagwandas Bagh is a ‘hot spot’ for dumping garbage. Schoolchildren, obviously, are getting exposed to these unhygienic conditions.

“Children of nearby colonies come here for education. However, they have to deal with mosquitoes all day long. Officials were supposed to change the existing drainage line, which leaks on a daily basis.

This whole stretch is inundated with drain water,” says another local Durga Prasad.

“We have a fair idea of the ground situation at Tallagadda. We are planning to take up a health camp in these colonies. We would also alert GHMC officials to take up the sanitation works,” said District Health and Medical Ch. Jaya Kumari.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh