Eluru illness: Unanswered questions abound

Eluru illness: Unanswered questions abound

U.Sudhakarreddy@timesgroup.com

Hyderabad:  13.12.2020

Despite Friday’s meeting of Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy with multiple national institutions confirmed the presence of lead, nickel and organophosphates in the blood samples of patients, the mystery illness in Eluru continues to baffle the authorities.

Though AIIMS New Delhi, Indian Institute of Chemical technology (IICT) and National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) have found and confirmed the presence of lead and nickel in the blood samples of residents, there is still no clarity as to how these metals have entered the human body.

Joint collector of West Godavari district Himanshu Shukla said the NIN has also found presence of organophosphate in the blood samples and sought more time to carry out the investigations. “AIIMS Delhi has tied up with other institutions to study the presence of organochlorine and organophosphates in blood,” Shukla said.

He, however, said that out of 40 urine samples sent to AIIMS Delhi, only two samples had shown the presence of lead and nickel.

He said NIN has found the presence of herbicides in vegetables. “But, the test results relating to vegetables, rice, fish, meat and soil are likely to be made available on Dec 16,” he said.

On the other hand, the TDP alleged that chlorine and bleaching powder were present in large quantities in the drinking water supplied by the government to some of the colonies. TDP president and former CM N Chandrababu Naidu alleged that the authorities have not cleaned the drinking water sources for the last one-and-a-half years. “That is why people of Eluru have taken ill after consuming the contaminated water,” he said.

Reacting to social media posts linking him to the Eluru mystery illness, Kamalapuram MLA and CM’s uncle P Ravindranath Reddy refuted the speculations and called them baseless. “I have no connection to the supply of chlorine,” he said. He accused the TDP’s social media wing of spreading misinformation and said he had already lodged a complaint with the state intelligence wing on the posts.

Meanwhile, the authorities have maintained that the water supplied to various colonies in Eluru is treated and clean. They said even the APPCB had given a clean chit to the water samples it had collected and tested.

Officials said AIIMS Delhi and the IICT have not found anything adverse in the water samples and added that water was unlikely to be the source for the mystery illness. “The water supplied in Eluru is potable and fit for human consumption. The NIN is also analysing the water samples and has requested time till Dec 14,” an official said.

STILL A MYSTERY: Patients undergoing treatment at the Eluru district hospital