Girl dies of dengue, parents allege govt apathy

Harshraj Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhina, October 23

With no concrete measures taken to prevent dengue this year too, four-year-old Ananya of New Durga Colony in Dhandari Khurd lost her life on Monday. Even two days after her death, the administration is yet to wake up to the present situation at the colony.

Ananya was a nursery student of SS Vidya Mandir School. The road that leads to her house and nearby plots have remained flooded with water for past more than one year.

No fogging has been done to control breeding of mosquitoes in the area that falls under Ward No. 28 of Ludhiana. There is a major issue of overflowing sewers in the area.

According to Ramesh Kumar Saini, father of the deceased, doctors at the PGIMER had informed him that his daughter was suffering from dengue.

A copy of medical certificate declaring the cause of her death issued to him by the PGIMER states refractory shock, dengue shock syndrome and tropical infection. However, the Ludhiana Health Department has not confirmed any dengue death.

“Earlier, we took her to a private doctor, but later she was admitted to the ESI Hospital at Bharat Nagar Chowk on Saturday. When her condition started deteriorating she was referred to the PGIMER, Chandigarh, where she took her last breath on Monday evening. She suffered from fever, body and abdominal pain. I have lost my daughter,” said wailing father.

“Streets and vacant plots remain inundated as sewerage system is not functioning properly. No fogging is conducted in our area to prevent dengue,” added Saini, who is father of five daughters, including Ananya, who was the youngest.

Residents slammed the government, the MC and the Health Department for ignoring their area wherein majority of population belongs to economically weaker section.

“We are poor people. That’s why nobody pays attention to improve conditions in our area. Our elected representatives, including the MP, MLA and councillor are in deep slumber as they have never addressed our issues,” said a group of residents.

“A suspected dengue death was reported a week ago in Durga Colony. Our youth club members have donated platelets to several dengue patients in various parts of the ward. Government departments always claim that everything is fine, but people are falling ill in our area,” said Kamleshwar a resident.

“We have requested the civic body authorities many times, but no measures have been taken to prevent accumulation of water in streets and plots. We have even staged protests. Areas, where poor people live are always ignored. The responsibility of officials concerned of the MC and the Health Department should be fixed and action taken against them in case of negligence on their part,” said Anuj Kumar another resident.

“Dengue cases are being reported from various parts of Durga Colony, Focal Point and Ambedkar Nagar in Giaspura. Four suspected dengue deaths have been reported from these areas. We want that the government must take immediate steps to save people from dengue,” claimed RK Yadav, president of Yadav Mahasabha Punjab.

“The MC team will visit the area and take required measures,” said Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu.