Kendrapara: Kidney-related ailment has struck an alarming number of people in Pohana and Pandia villages under Garadapur block in this coastal district since the last two years. At least four persons including women have died while four others are suffering from the disease. Most of the patients are in the age group of 30-35 years.
Consumption of contaminated water from tube wells is suspected to be the reason behind the spread of kidney disease in the two villages. However, an official said this was not correct.
The deceased of Pohana were Sachitra Behera, Ranjit Lenka, Batakrushna Das, and Nabaghan Behera. Driven by abject poverty, their families could not provide them with treatment.
Four persons including engineer Manoj Kumar Behera (31), Jayadev Mishra (32), Naresh Maharana (34) and Jyoti Ranjan Nayak (35) of Pandia village are battling the disease. The symptoms included feeling weak, losing visual power, severe vomiting and swelling of limbs and face.
Unable to afford money for treatment, there were instances of family members donating their kidneys to their patients. Recently, Jyoti Ranjan Nayak was donated a kidney by his elderly mother Sandhyarani. Similarly, quite several patients are undergoing treatment in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.
A minimum of Rs 30,000 is required for dialysis treatment every month. This is a difficult task for poor families. “The government has not provided any help,” said Rosalin Sethy, the local sarpanch.
Failing to arrange money for treatment, a patient, Naresh Moharana, attempted suicide by consuming a bunch of tablets while at hospital.
In view of the complaints about use of poor-quality water, the RWSS department recently took steps to provide pipe water supply. But the tank construction work moved at snail’s pace. Recently, a team from the district health department visited the village and collected water samples for lab test.
“Test reports confirmed that the kidney disease was not caused by the water,” said Kendrapara CDMO Baishnab Chandra Sahu; adding, there could be some other reason.
