Locals say 61 people died of 'unknown' disease in Chhattisgarh village;

 Locals say 61 people died of 'unknown' disease in Chhattisgarh village; investigation underway

Residents of a remote village in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district have claimed that 61 people died due to some "unknown" disease in the past three years, prompting authorities to take action to find out what exactly caused these deaths. What was

Residents of Regadagatta village, located in the Konta development block, recently raised the issue with the district authorities, who said that preliminary scrutiny of records showed that 47 people died due to various reasons, including diseases and natural causes. happened.

A detailed report is awaited to identify heavy metal content such as arsenic in water and soil, officials said, adding that on August 8, a team of experts would be sent to the village for an in-depth study of environmental causes. The population of this village is more than 1,000, in which 130 families live.

On July 27, the villagers handed over a letter to the Sukma District Collector, claiming that since 2020 till now, 61 people, including a young man and a woman with signs of swelling in hands and feet, have died.

The villagers requested the administration to immediately send a team of doctors to deal with the issue to prevent further deaths.

Sukma Collector Harish S told PTI that a team of health workers and other experts was sent last week after locals raised the issue.

"Preliminary investigation reveals that 47 people died in that village in the last three years, but not all of them died due to the same cause as claimed by the local people," he said.

Some of the dead had swelling on their bodies and this could be due to various reasons. He said that preliminary reports of samples from water sources have concluded that fluoride levels in two water sources were above the limit, while some sources had high iron content.

"But as of now, we cannot say that the deaths were due to the heavy metal content in the water because the consumption of high fluoridated water causes bone loss and the local population has no such symptoms," he said.

Even high iron content can cause complications but it may not cause sudden death. There may be other environmental reasons. He added that chronic alcoholism among the population may also be a possibility (for kidney-related diseases).

A detailed report is awaited to identify heavy metal content such as arsenic in water and soil, he added.

The collector said that after the matter came to light, a team of health officials who visited the village had conducted a medical examination of the villagers, in which 41 people were identified to be suffering from swelling in the body and kidney related problems.

The investigation revealed that uric acid and creatinine levels were elevated on them as compared to normal parameters. He said that he is being treated and his condition is stable. He said that two of them were hyper anaemia patients admitted to Sukma district hospital.

He said that on August 8, a team of experts would be sent to the village to study the environmental causes.

District Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Yashwant Dhruv said preliminary investigations show that 15 deaths were reported in the village this year due to various reasons including kidney ailments, old age-related problems and malaria.

He said that how many of them died of kidney disease was yet to be confirmed.

He said that out of 20 water sources tested, two handpumps were found to have high fluoride content, after which it was closed for use, while villagers advised not to use eight water sources for drinking purposes, Because the amount of iron in it was more than the limit.

He said some villagers have mild symptoms of chronic kidney disease and further tests are underway.

He said that recently an ANM (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife) was appointed in a sub health centre.