Living on the edge
Today
when I went to the pathological lab for a simple blood test, I saw a small boy,
a dengue patient, waiting for his turn. The small boy, I heard, was coming
twice a day to check his platelet count. The tired and worried parents were
eagerly waiting for the report. I could relate to their tension as I also have
a son of the same age.
The kid was suffering from dengue, a disease that has wreaked havoc in
Delhi-NCR this year. This year, a vast majority of those affected, including the
victims, are children. Experts say the outbreak is only likely to intensify in
by mid-October.
I wonder, aren’t we living on the edge year after year. Are we paying
the price of living in a big city? With the onset of monsoon every year, dengue
raises its ugly head and people live in fear with each passing day. We start
taking precautions by not opening doors and windows even in day hours as the
dengue mosquito bites in the morning and during day time. This year, a circular
was sent from my son’s school, asking them to wear full sleeves shirt and long
trousers in summer time; most of big schools are air-conditioned and so sending
them fully covered wouldn’t be a problem for those studying there. But what
about kids in government schools where there is no guarantee that the rickety
fan would work. Wouldn’t they sweat just because the government is trying to
cover up its own failure to check mosquito-breeding than the kids?
In the evening again, I cannot stop him from going to the park so cover
him in this humid September to protect him from that nasty bite.
Recently, the swimming pool of our society was closed after two children
had dengue fever. Only then, reality struck our management members that dengue
mosquito breeds in clean water. Every year dengue is at its peak in October,
the festival season. And there is no respite till Diwali night when smoke from
crackers stops these tiny killers. But is this a healthy solution?
But are these protections enough? Come winter and again another fear
will start worrying us -- swine flu. In peak summer when people from other
places dread to come to the national capital, we feel safe as the hot sun
protects us at least from these diseases.
Then there is the constant fear of air pollution; it is said after 10
years Delhi will be counted among the most polluted cities in the world. I
think it is already there. If these killer diseases are taking toll year after
year why doesn’t the government take precautions beforehand? Simple steps like
cleaning drains, cutting unnecessary hedges and bushes, stopping dumping of
garbage here and there, conducting fumigation drives across all places not only
in the posh areas, covering areas where stagnant water accumulates. These are
enough to restrict disease from spreading.
The common people must also take responsibility to keep their
surroundings clean along with their houses. Instead, our political parties are
busy in a blame game. When in power, their term gets over before taking any
sincere step and when in opposition their only task is to blame the ruling
party. This year, the unofficial death toll is already nearing 50. Delhi had
witnessed a large number of dengue cases in 2010, with over 6,200 cases.
This year, the death of a seven-year- old dengue patient followed by his
parents’ suicide was shocking. Every year we read, we feel bad and then we
forget until a similar story hits the headlines next year. We think this can
happen to others and not us.
In such emergency situations, why can’t private hospitals open their
doors for the poor at nominal rates so that they don’t have to run from pillar
to post? Sometimes they are shown the door saying no beds are available,
sometimes they are told treatment not possible there. Initiatives to improve
the conditions of the government hospitals will help in controlling such
diseases in the long run. Till then, living on the edge will become a routine
affair and part of our daily lives.
