
Telegraph picture
Rourkela, Sept. 16: At least 23 cases of kidney ailments have been reported in the past six months from Bonai, a mining and industrial area.
These cases have been reported at the Bonai sub-divisional hospital. People in the area depend on tube wells and wells for drinking water.
Officials admitted that 23 persons of the area had sought financial assistance from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund to meet their treatment expenses. "Most of these cases are related to renal failures," said a doctor at the hospital.
While Bonai sub-divisional medical officer (SDMO) Urmila Mishra said the quality of drinking water could be responsible for rise in kidney-related problems in the area, Sundargarh district collector B.S. Punia, however, ruled out such a possibility.
When asked what could have been the reason for the high number of kidney-related ailments being reported lately, Mishra said: "Of course, it's the quality of drinking water. Majority of the affected persons are neither alcoholic nor habitual users of painkillers."
She said on several occasions in the past two years, she had raised the issue at different forums.
Dr Mishra said: "The situation is not alarming, but it warrants immediate action. Timely intervention of the district administration and the health department could control the situation."
Punia said the health and rural water supply and sanitation departments had undertaken independent test of water samples in the area and "the laboratory tests found nothing to establish that this problem was due to drinking water. The water samples were drawn from the points that the locals are using".
Mishra said several patients had been coming to the Bonai sub-divisional hospital with kidney related problems. She confirmed that she had recommended the names of 23 persons for financial assistance from the CM's relief fund.
"The treatment is costly. One has to spend nearly Rs 10,000 every month on dialysis," she said.
The local residents blamed the depleting water table for poor quality of water. B. Mishra, who stays in Bonai, said the administration was trying to hide the fact that the quality of water had deteriorated.