A health camp set up by the State government in Ennore and Enravur on Friday saw dozens of cases of people with minor injuries caused by slipping and falling on the rocks, as well as a few instances of skin ailments, doctors said.
A team of 70 doctors from the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (DPH), Government Stanley Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital was at the site of the oil spill, where workers and volunteers have been engaged in clean-up work.
A doctor from Government Stanley Hospital said there had been 150 cases on Friday. “Most of the people had minor injuries caused due to slipping and falling in the area, as there are a lot of rocks there,” he said. The team also conducted a survey of 500 houses in Sivagami Nagar to check if residents had experienced respiratory problems, but said that there were no significant problems seen so far. Since Saturday, a team of doctors was being sent daily and this would continue until clean-up operations were completed, he said.
Mobile teams
Six mobile teams from DPH, Tiruvallur, have also been stationed there for the last three days, said deputy director of health services, Tiruvallur, J. Prabakaran. “There have been some cases of workers, who have been in the water for a long time, suffering from rashes and boils,” he said. The teams will remain there for a week after clean-up operations have been completed to check for any other cases. “Sometimes, skin lesions can arise a few days after exposure,” he said.
However, the lack of adequate protective gear for those engaged in the clean-up has been a concern.
The environment at the site was toxic and it was essential for those engaged in clean-up operations to wear proper protective gear, said S. Subramanian, infectious diseases consultant. “It could cause skin diseases. Workers could fall in it, not to mention the possibility of fumes generated. If heavy metals such as lead or cadmium have been added to the oil, they represent an additional toxic hazard,” he said.
Supraja Dharini of the Tree Foundation, which has been involved in the clean-up operations, pointed to the need for more volunteers. “The plastic and waste dumped on land is also entering the sea, apart from bilge oil. All of us should be concerned about this, not just about the oil slick which is now contained in one area,” she said.
