|
|
|
| Sunday, 14 August 2005 |
 |
|
 |
World |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Disease follows floods in India MUMBAI, Aug 13 (AFP) - At least 121 people have died due to water-borne illnesses following heavy rains in India's western state of Maharashtra and the financial capital of Mumbai last month, officials said Saturday. The death toll in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, has reached 76, municipal commissioner Johny Joseph said as doctors battled to treat sick patients in crowded hospitals. Another municipal health official said the number of deaths in Thane district adjoining Mumbai stood at 45 with more patients checking into hospitals complaining of "high fever". Hospitals and medical centres across Maharashtra state were jammed with at least 5,500 so-called "fever cases," health officials said, adding that the tally could be much higher as not all cases had been reported. The situation in some hospitals in Mumbai was chaotic with many patients being treated on floors as beds ran out. A major worry was an outbreak of leptospirosis that officials believed was responsible for many deaths, but cases of gastroenteritis, viral fever, dengue fever and other illnesses have also been reported. Leptospirosis is caused by exposure to water contaminated with animal urine and its symptoms include high fever and vomiting. Joseph said the situation was under control in Mumbai. "We are administering prophylactic treatment through relief camps and so are hoping that the number of reported cases of fever will come down in the next four days." The illnesses have been incubating since the incessant rains that turned streets into rivers and left piles of garbage and rotting animal carcasses. Environmentalists and urban planners blamed the widespread flooding in Mumbai, a city of 15 million, on poor drainage caused by unchecked development that blocked water exits. A total of 1,023 people have died across Maharashtra since the heaviest rainfall in a 24-hour period was recorded in the region on July 26. |
|
| News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Produced by Lake House |
