Jaundice: Minister raps Kalyan civic officials

MUMBAI, May 9: State Labour Minister Shabir Sheikh who was deputed by the Government to take an overview of the jaundice epidemic sweeping t...

MUMBAI, May 9: State Labour Minister Shabir Sheikh who was deputed by the Government to take an overview of the jaundice epidemic sweeping the KDMC limits came down heavily on the administration and was particularly strong in his criticism of civic commissioner Madhukar Kokate for taking off on a vacation in such a situation. "This smacks of irresponsibility," he charged and expected that Kokate would report back on duty on May 12 as promised.

Sheikh was told by Dr V R More who heads the KDMC’s health department that the total number of cases, identified by the house-to-house survey, had gone up to 165. "The first 118 cases that had been discovered were all from the same ten buildings," the Minister was told, "of which 22 were from the same building Sunder Niwas."

Interestingly all the health department officials and the Indian Medical Association representatives attending today’s meet were allopaths. Inspite of the health department accepting that there is no exact medicine of jaundice in allopathy, noefforts were made to involve ayurveda or unani practitioners who patients are flocking to in today’s meeting.

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It was Sheikh who suggested that the doctors go to the vaids, hakims and traditional medicine men and seek their cooperation in getting tests done to determine whether patients were actually suffering from jaundice. "You could take down their addresses there itself to help identify trouble spots," he suggested.

Every corporator from mayor Sharayu Pradhan and deputy mayor Uday Samel attacked the sanitation and water supply departments for their apathy. "We have raised the issue of garbage removal and water pipes passing through sewerage in so many meetings but there seems to be no effect," pointed out Samel who charged, "The corruption involved in hiring of vehicles and labour for refuse removal is responsible for the sorry state of affairs." The mayor said she found it annoying that the administration did not deem it necessary to take the elected representatives into confidence over any move itplanned.

The deputy commissioner in-charge of Kalyan division came for serious censure by the Minister when he tried to submit statistics about how many workers and mukadams of the sanitation department were given notices and suspended in the past six months. "Don’t try to save yourself by talking about suspended Class IV employees," the Minister glowered, "The point is that there is no cleanliness in the municipal limits."

The next in line of firing was the executive engineer, water supply C G Kolte who said it was difficult for the KDMC to identify all the trouble spots where the water pipes passed through sewers. "The old pipes were laid as early as 1985 and when we were still a municipal council and my department has not been handed down any maps which makes it very difficult to identify these spots," he tried to explain. But Sheikh ticked him off saying that urgency was important since it a matter of citizens’ health. "You can’t keep works like these as a 100-year programme," he said and demanded toknow by when the old pipes would all be raised out of the sewers. Kolte then assured him that the work would be completed in a year’s time.

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The health department was also pulled up for the slackness in conducting the survey. It may be recalled that Express Newsline had reported that there were no ready questionnaires available for the survey. The officials agreed and said that they had already placed orders for the same to be printed. However they could not convincingly satisfy the minister and the IMA representatives about how they planned to complete the survey in all the 96 wards with the help of 44 staffers in a week’s time.

Later on as every corporator rose to point out instances of sanitary and health problems in their respective wards, the Minister quipped, "Is the sainik in all of you dead since you turned corporators," and added, "if you are sainiks then you should know how to get your work done," promising his personal support. He also suggested that the local shakhas help theadministration in the awareness campaign. Sheikh’s visit has raised quite a few eye-brows in this area. "While it is understandable that the current political situation could not permit the Government to send Thane guardian minister Ganesh Naik, it could have sent Health Minister Daulatrao Aher himself," said a senior Sena leader.