Srikakulam: Many residents of a remote village, Kottisa in Vangaramandal, have been experiencing serious kidney and bone problems for the past several years. Kottisa was a displaced village under Madduvalasa Reservoir Project whose residents have been rehabilitated at Mutyalamma tank area in 2002.
Medical and health department officials are still indifferent in finding the reason for the diseases who have taken endemic proportions. In all, 950 people are living inthe village and the total number of houses is 220. Earlier, the population of the village was 1,800, but it has been decreasing due to migration in the wake of diseases.
The villagers said that eight persons died last year due to bone and kidney related diseases. But local medical and health staff did not report the deaths to their higher officials properly. Instead, the officials maintain that it is a minor issue when compared with kidney ailments in Uddanam area. Villagers rue the indifference of the officials toward their woes.
Kalamata Sangayya, Kalamata Venkayya, A Seethamma, U Suryanarayana, P Gouramma, K Raminaidu, A Dalayya and 40 others of the village are suffering from bone, muscle and kidney diseases. The patients are moving around hospitals in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam spending money but to no avail.
Fluoride content is more in ground water in the village and previously private engineering company staff, after conducting tests, declared that the groundwater in the village is not suitable to drink. Subsequent tests by Rural Water Supply engineers too confirmed the dangerous levels of fluoride in the groundwater. Despite this, sufficient safe drinking water is not being supplied to the village from Magguru water scheme.
Vangara primary health centre doctor K Anil said no serious cases these diseases were recorded from Kottisa village in their centre. The patients might have approached other hospitals he added. District medical and health officer (DMHO) Dr Sanapala Tirupati Rao told The Hans India that they were yet to receive any report over serious ailments from the village.
*Original article online at http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Andhra-Pradesh/2017-11-17/Kottisa-reels-under-bone-kidney-related-ailments/340098
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