5 shelter home children die of cholera in MP’s Indore: Officials
Speaking to media persons, a district administration official who is part of the probe committee said that the children had complained of diarrhoea and dehydration on June 27 but it was not taken seriously
Bhopal: Five children of the Yugpurush Dham Baudhik Vikas Kendra, the shelter home for the special children in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, died of cholera after allegedly consuming contaminated water, officials aware of the incident said on Thursday.
In the test report, cholera has been confirmed and delayed diagnosis led to the deaths as the infection went out of control, said Dr Preeti Malpani of Chacha Nehru Government Hospital, where 52 children are still admitted and undergoing treatment. Six children are stated to be serious and are being treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), she added.
After the incident came to light on Wednesday, a probe committee found that as many as six children died between Sunday and Tuesday, of which four died in the shelter home itself.
Speaking to media persons, a district administration official who is part of the probe committee said that the children had complained of diarrhoea and dehydration on June 27 to the doctor at the shelter home, but the administration did not take it seriously.
“After four deaths, the children were rushed to the hospital. The ashram (shelter home) administration did not inform the district officials on time and tried to treat children at the ashram only”, the official added.
Officials said that an inspection of the shelter home was carried out after the incident came to light and the probe team found the water contaminated. There was also no proper hygiene in the kitchen and the availability of lids to cover cooked food.
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During the inspection, it was also found that the ashram, which is registered to give shelter to 100 children, was sheltering more than 200 children, said another official.
An action has been recommended against the ashram and its administration for negligence, said officials.
After the probe committee report, district collector Asheesh Singh served a show cause notice to the ashram to reply in three days.
“The ashram was found overcrowded as it is the only ashram in MP. We are writing to the state government to open more shelters like this. We are also shifting extra children to other places. The ashram administration’s intention was not found malicious but careless, so action will be taken against them”, said Indore divisional commissioner Deepak Kumar Singh.
“As the cholera outbreak is a serious issue, we have asked the public health engineering and health department to check the water sources of all the shelters and hostels of the Indore division”, Singh added.
