Dug up roads spreading diseases in Allahabad

20 October, 2012

The dug up roads in Allahabad have led to the spread of several diseases some of which would never have been there but for the callousness if not punishable negligence of the authorities concerned.

MANY WEEKS ago I wrote that on bumpy roads people moving in tempos were in danger of dislocating their bones. In one case, when the speeding tempo jumped across a pit, one of the occupants also got such a big jump that his head banged against the ceiling and he got badly injured.

But the deaf, dumb and the blind officialdom has not bothered to do anything on an urgent basis to end this horrifying state of affairs. If doctors are receiving patients in large numbers with complaints about slip-discs, they should know the reason. What should the public do? Stop going to work, school or college via these jerky roads and stay at home till the roads get a smooth surface again?

The air-pollution that the flying dust is causing and which is resulting in lung-related ailments is no longer a secret. Now, experts say that exposure of children to pollution caused by dust could retard the physical and mental growth of children.

Allahabad is in a mess. The whole city knows it. Nay, the whole world knows it through e-mails that people of Allahabad are sending to their relatives and friends abroad, asking them not to come to Allahabad right now because for the last more than one year this city has become unfit to live.

The danger posed by the water-filled pits on these dug-up roads could soon turn into the birth place of other diseases if these are not filled up speedily. Some of them have already become breeding centers of mosquitoes. And these mosquitoes may cause the spread of deadly diseases too. Malaria, encephalitis have already shown their devilry. Now, the threat from dengue is looming large. I base this on a report from Delhi where dengue appears to be raging in an epidemic form. Health officials of the local bodies there have been directed to start house-to-house fogging and take steps to create awareness on the issue in all local body and government schools.

Delhi Health minister has ordered that 'Malba' removal from the construction sites and sanitation must be given top priority. These sites are the most vulnerable spots because water tends to accumulate there and that is where mosquito breeding takes place. Has anyone in the Nagar Nigam or the ADA bothered to see the roadside dumping of 'malba' (building waste) and construction material? These too are encroaching upon the roads meant for traffic use and not for the house constructors and their suvida-shulk seeking Gurus in the administrative machinery.

Delhi health authorities have ordered that the focus must shift from local fogging to domestic fogging as it would be much more effective at this stage. I am quoting Delhi's Health authorities and not local or state authorities because they seem to be totally ignorant on the health front. Had they been awake, would we be losing hundreds of lives in Gorakhpur and neighbouring areas from, encephalitis?