Hyderabad: Over 1,76,000 people have been treated in the Godavari Pushkaram in Andhra Pradesh for dehydration, low blood sugar levels and also bruises from slipping and falling down. In Telangana, 2,01,256 pilgrims have undergone treatment at medical camps from July 14.
With two crore people already taking a dip there are lots of them coming to the medical camps with problems of cold, body pain, skin irritation and skin infections, bruises and also severe headaches. There are 423 medical camps operating 24x7 in the ghats. Andhra Pradesh principal secretary health Poonam Malakondaiah said, “The devout are coming on an empty stomach and they have to wait in the queue for long hours. On top of it those who are diabetic and hypertension patients are not able to wait for so long and are fainting in the queue. We have sent out an appeal to all the senior citizens, heart patients and those suffering from diabetes to eat and come for the dip. We have also asked religious leaders to explain to them that it is not wrong if they eat light and take a dip.”
As there are too many diabetic patients arriving without eating, there is fainting and dehydration which is the common complaint in the medical camps. A senior doctor said, “A diabetic patient who was on fast took his medicines immediately after the dip on an empty stomach. He developed complications and collapsed in the medical camp.”
Similarly, as the ghats are slippery there are more than 10,000 cases of falling and slipping leading to bruises and also fractures.
A senior doctor said, “The orthopaedic team from Guntur Medical College has been called in and junior doctors are working on these cases. In the camp we have told them that there is a fracture and asked them to go to the city and get it treated. Also, in the camp there is a dearth of senior doctors, there are mostly junior doctors and nursing staff who are checking on the pilgrims.”
With six days of the festival over, chlorine is being added to the water to monitor E.Coli levels. Senior water analyst B. Anjaneyulu said, “There are gunny bags filled with sand and bleaching powder placed near the Godavari River where point five chlorination is released all the time. This will help us to keep a check on E.Coli bacteria.”
