Diarrhoea cases up in city, say docs
Even as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has made huge claims of being full ready to tackle monsoon-related diseases, in a shocking revelation by the civic body, the city has reported more than 200 cases of diarrhoea in the month of August alone.
A senior official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that it had received several complaints regarding the supply of contaminated water in western suburbs including Kurla, Mankhurd and Chinchpokli.
“For the past two months, we are getting contaminated water in our area due to which many of them suffered from stomach related problems. The officials are not taking any action despite our complaints,” said Nilesh Kharat, a resident of Chinchpokli.
The doctors added that diarrhoea is a water-borne disease which is primarily spread through contaminated water. “People fall sick by drinking polluted water without boiling it or using contaminated water in cooking,” said senior doctor. The civic health department has issued advisories in all the ward regarding what precaution should be taken in tackling the waterborne diseases. “In July 1,010 cases of diarrhoea were reported whereas the number in June was 886 in the city. We have alerted citizens to drink boiled water to prevent stomach-related problems,” said Dr Mini Khetrapal, head of epidemiology department of BMC.
A senior official said that as of now only one case of cholera has been recorded this year in the city. “The number of patients suffering from diarrhoea is likely to increase in the next few days. People are coming for treatment showing symptoms like fever, cough and sore throat due to drinking of contaminated water,” added a health official.