Groundwater contamination plays havoc

Supebeda (Chhattisgarh): People of Supebeda, a remote nondescript village in east Chhattisgarh’s Gariabandh district, have literally been drawing misery from the ground.

Severe groundwater contamination has played havoc with people of the village, leading to a spurt in kidney failure deaths in the past several months.

At least 56 people, including young and old, died of kidney failure in the past six months due to consumption of polluted water from bore wells, locals said.

“A majority of kidney patients hailing from the village succumbed, while undergoing treatment,”  Gariaband district chief medical officer (CMO), A.K. Ratre told this newspaper on Wednesday.

Around 239 of around 2,000 people in the village have been found positive for urea and keratinize, indicating that they are suffering from kidney problems, he said.

Medical camps have been organised in the village to provide treatment to the affected people. Critically ill patients are shifted to various specialised hospitals in the state, official sources said.

“The district is rich in mineral resources, the water table in the village has gone down substantially, it is basically due to presence of minerals such as chromium, cadmium, manganese,” secretary of health department Mr Anil Sahul told this newspaper. It has still not reached dangerous proportions,” he added.

The groundwater contamination has triggered panic among the people not only of Supebeda, but also of the surrounding villages.

“We have literally been socially boycotted by people of other villages, including our relatives. They are reluctant to visit us and unwilling to marry off their children in our village,” Nareja, 22, whose cousin died in May this year due to kidney ailments, told this newspaper.

The villagers have petitioned to state as well as national human rights commissions to intervene and ensure immediate succour to them to mitigate their misery.

Mr Ratre said, “A team of National Research in Tribal Health (NIRTH), Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, has recently visited the village to conduct medical tests of the locals.”

Besides, teams of doctors from All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Delhi and other specialised hospitals of Chhattisgarh such as MMI Narayana Hospital and Rama Krishna Care Hospital have also visited the village.

Though the state government has initiated several measures to provide treatment to the villagers suffering from various ailments caused due to consumption of dirty water and has ensured provision of safe drinking water to them, till then the villagers have hardly any option but to consume the contaminated water of the bore wells.

Water woes

• 239 of around 2,000 people in the village have been found positive for urea and creatinine of which 56 have died so far
• The contamination is basically due to presence of minerals such as chromium, cadmium, manganese, a health dept official said
• The government is making arrangement to shift critically ill patients to various specialised hospitals in the state
• Doctors of All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Delhi and other specialised
• hospitals have visited the village
• The villagers have been socially boycotted by people of other villages, including their relatives
• The villagers have petitioned state and national human rights commissions to mitigate their misery