BASURI DESAI
VALPOI: The village of Pali in Sattari has been struck by the mysterious and sudden deaths of villagers over the past one month, and they still continue. The death toll has now reached nine and though the illnesses may have been different, they have all ended in death. Till Monday evening there were two patients from Pali, who were admitted to Valpoi community health centre, suffering from fever and cold.
Nobody has a clue as to how the deaths have been occurring as those who died took ill for different reasons. Even a person who was admitted for a minor cold and fever has lost his life. A medical team of the Directorate of Health is still studying the matter, but has not yet arrived at any conclusion.
With medical experts in the dark over the mystery deaths for over a month, villagers are now living in fear and panic. A few of the senior citizens are looking for answers in superstitions. “A month back villagers had installed the idols of goddesses in their temple after a lot of difficulty. Some of the senior citizens say that this may be the reason why the village is under such a threat, as we Hindus believe in superstitions,” Govind Korgaonkar, deputy sarpanch of Thane panchayat said.
Tulsidas Sawant, Pali resident, who lost his father and brother within a month said, “I don’t know what has happened in the village. I lost my father and brother within 30 days. A medical team has been to our village. All samples, including of water and blood have been collected, but so far no conclusion has been reached,” Sawant said.
Pali village, which is just 55 kms from the state’s capital, and represented by former Health Minister Vishwajit Rane is going through a very bad phase.
Rane, when contacted, said, “I am disappointed with the Goa government. The rural medical dispensary that was there in Thane has no equipment as all have been taken by these people. It is an absolute failure of the Health Department to tackle the Pali village issue. In Pali village the basic thing, which is testing blood samples, has not yet been done.”
The primary health centre at Thane is functioning without a medical officer. The Valpoi community health centre has no doctors and faces a shortage of equipment. The village is connected with a potable drinking water facility but there are hardly any toilets that are in working condition. The approximate population of this village is 700 with over 200 houses.
“Most of the houses in Pali do not have toilets. Only 10 toilets, out of 20 that were built by the panchayat, are in an usable condition. The rest are not fit for use,” Vishwesh Parab, a local activist from Valpoi said.
However, Govind Korgaonkar deputy sarpanch of Thane maintained that 35 toilets were constructed so far in Pali village.
The moot question is how to deal with the fear and anxiety in the minds of villagers and how to eradicate it. The Directorate of Health Services and the local community health centre has done nothing to boost their confidence in modern medicine, to deal with the mystery illness. The villagers are now demanding at least some health camps in the village at regular intervals.
One senior citizen said that the deaths in the village have impacted the village badly. “Nobody is willing to get married to the young men and women from our village,” he said.
Surekha Parulekar, medical officer of Valpoi community health centre said that all necessary samples are being collected by a team of the Health Services and one private hospital too. “The reports are with the director and they have been kept confidential, you speak to him. For the last one month I have been restless because of this issue” Dr Parulekar said.
Herald tried contacting Health Department Director Dr Sanjeev Dalvi at least five times but he was not available, neither on phone nor in the office, even as the villagers of Pali remain tense over the mystery illnesses.
