Kidney ailments were rampant in A. Konduru mandal near Thiruvur in Krishna district and more than 25 people were hospitalised with kidney-related diseases in two months, according to CPI(M) leader Ch. Babu Rao here on Friday.
Presenting the patients in front of the media, he said a CPI(M) team visited the villages and unearthed many cases of kidney diseases in 19 SC and ST hamlets. “The government is yet to react,” he said.
The Krishna water was yet to reach the hamlets and the people there were drinking water with high fluoride content. “The admissible percentage is 1.5 but the water there has 2.4% fluorides. The local primary health centre has neither dialysis facility nor required medicines,” the senior Left leader said.
Each affected family was spending more than ₹5,000 per month for treatment and some were even selling away their land holdings to meet the medical expenses, he said.
Mr. Rao found fault with the local Mandal Revenue Officer for ‘suppressing the facts and releasing false data’ about the number of patients suffering from kidney ailments.
‘Cover-up bid’
“The district administration is trying to cover up the facts. Even Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas and Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, who is from the district, are yet to take measures to address the issue,” he maintained.
The CPI(M) leader demanded that the government send an expert committee immediately to study the problem and offer treatment free of cost.
“The patients should be provided ₹2,500 per month to meet medical expenses,” he said.
He demanded setting up of a dialysis centre at A. Konduru along with a nephrologist and distribution of medicines free of cost.
Efforts should be made to extend Krishna water supply from Ramachandrapuram to A. Konduru and until then the river water should be distributed in tankers, he said.
