12 labourers from Kalbadevi down with suspected cholera

Hardly had citizens got over the swine flu, malaria, gastroenteritis, and jaundice when cholera has caught certain areas of Mumbai in its grip.  

As many as 12 patients, all residents of Carvel Street, Ramwadi, Kalbadevi, were admitted to hospital with symptoms of cholera. Eleven of them were admitted to Kasturba Hospital and one to Gokuldas Tejpal Hospital on Wednesday evening. 

According to local corporator Janak Sanghavi, those admitted are daily-wage workers who live in unhygienic conditions. “They use well water supplied from handcarts,” he said. “The water might be the main cause of the infection.”  

Additional municipal commissioner Manisha Patankar said, “The BMC has taken samples of the well water which is being used by the labourers and sent them for a tissue culture test. The test will confirm if the patients have cholera. But the BMC has already started a door-to-door survey and begun examining residents of the locality.” 

Sanghavi raised the issue in the BMC and said there were many complaints of contaminated water coming in from the area. He alleged that the BMC’s health department and hydraulic department were paying no heed to the complaints.  

Ashish Shelar, leader of the BJP in the corporation, said, “There are findings that 30% of the diseases are water-borne and the BMC is not taking active action to tackle the situation. The residents of the area have been using well water for a long time, but the civic body has not taken any steps to clean the well.”