Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 18: Fifty-four people have died and around 400 hospitalised in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia in the last three days amid soaring temperatures in the district but the state government is reluctant to accept the deaths could have caused by heatstroke.
At the behest of the state government, the officials are offering divergent explanations for the deaths after a chief medical officer was removed from his post for giving “careless statement” attributing the deaths to heatstroke.
After several government doctors posted at the eastern Uttar Pradesh district said on record the deaths could be linked to a heatwave, a senior government doctor from Lucknow – in-charge of a probe committee formed to look into the matter, on Saturday disagreed with the surmise of the local doctors and dismissed heat as the reason for the deaths.
“Prima facie, these do not appear to be heatwave-related deaths because nearby districts facing similar conditions are not throwing up similar death figures. The initial symptoms were of chest pain mostly which is not the first symptom for someone affected by a heatwave,” said senior government doctor AK Singh.
He also claimed that the deaths could be water-related. “It will be investigated if the deaths were due to water or if there’s a different reason. The climate department will also come to check water samples,” he said.
Official sources said 23 patients died on June 15, 20 the next day, and 11 on Saturday. As per records, on June 15, 154 people were admitted to the Ballia district hospital, and 23 died. On June 16, 137 people were admitted and 20 succumbed, while 11 deaths were reported on June 17. A probe committee, headed by two director-level health department officials, was sent to Ballia to look into the causes of the deaths.
A day after he said 34 people had died at the Ballia district hospital due to “heatstroke”, Chief Medical Superintendent Dr Diwakar Singh was removed from his post for “giving a careless statement on deaths caused by heatwave without having proper information.”
Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, who is also the health minister, in a statement, said, “The incident in Ballia published in newspapers has been taken very seriously by the government. Two director-level senior doctors have been sent to the spot. They will present a report to the government. A careless statement was given by the CMS (Ballia district hospital), and hence, he has been removed from there immediately.”
“At all hospitals in the district, officials have been instructed to identify and treat each patient. All medicines are available, and I am monitoring the situation,” said the minister.
In a statement on Friday evening, CMS Dr Diwakar Singh, who was removed on Saturday, said 34 people had died due to heatstroke. “All the deceased were old and had some ailment. Because of the heat, those diseases aggravated and they were brought in serious condition to the hospital and died during treatment and tests. This was despite all arrangements for medicines and treatment,” he had said.
Asked about the sudden spurt in deaths, the newly appointed CMS Dr S K Yadav told reporters, “There are different reasons. There are all kinds of patients. Among the deceased, there were people with fever, blood pressure, and breathing issues. Then, there were patients aged above 65 years. All kinds of patients were there. The temperature is touching 42-45 degrees Celsius and people are suffering heatstrokes, and such patients are there. We are all in alert mode.”
In a statement, Additional Health Director (Azamgarh circle) Dr O P Tiwari said, “The number of deaths has increased. The number of patients is more than routine. Most of the deceased are above 60 years. Right now, I can’t say much. A team from Lucknow is coming to probe this issue and find the reasons. Maybe it is a disease we haven’t been able to identify. When the weather is extreme, like in heat and cold, deaths among patients with blood pressure and diabetes increase. The temperature has increased. Maybe it is the effect of that. That these diseases may have aggravated,” said Dr Tiwari. “On June 15 and 16, 21 people died,” he added.
Dr Tiwari, who visited the Ballia district hospital on Saturday, said, “I have received no complaints from any patient saying that his treatment is not being done properly.”
The deaths have drawn the opposition ire with Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav blaming the state government for the deaths. “So many people across UP have lost lives because of the carelessness of the state govt. They should have warned the people about the heatwave. Not a single district hospital has been built in UP in the last 6 years. Those who have lost their lives are poor farmers because they did not receive food, medicines and treatment on time,” he said.
Brajesh Pathak said the government has taken serious note of the incident in Ballia, and he is personally monitoring the situation there. The sudden increase in deaths and patients being admitted to hospitals with fever, breathing trouble, and other issues have overwhelmed the hospital, which has put its staff on alert.
There’s such a rush at the district hospital that patients are unable to get stretchers, and many attendants are carrying their patients to the emergency ward on their shoulders. The Additional Health Director has, however, claimed that it gets difficult if ten patients turn up at the same time, but they do have stretchers.