Mumbai hit with diseases after rains
after the monsoon deluge, Mumbai has witnessed an outbreak of diseases such as malaria, dengue and leptospirosis, taking the death toll to 68 on August 2. The pace at which people are dying is alarming. Besides, Mumbai has recorded an increase in water-borne diseases like typhoid, hepatitis and gastroenteritis, caused due to contamination of drinking water supply. A total of 3,326 people have fallen prey to these diseases (see table: Death toll).
Most patients belong to low-lying areas like Dharavi, Kurla, Byculla, Parel, Andheri, Saki Naka and regions in and around Borivali. While Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (mcgm) officials claim the situation is under control, the crisis is far from over. "There is no outbreak and the number of causalties are very much in control. mcgm was prepared well in advance.We have cleaned up the Mithi River, strictly supervised drains, banned thin plastic bags, organised awareness programmes, trained doctors, stocked adequate medicines like deoxycyclin for leptospirosis,' says Neera Kevalramani, deputy executive health officer, mcgm.
But Kevalramani does not focus on the haphazard construction activities in the city that have blocked most water channels (see