Malaria, fevers abound in city

Vijayawada, Nov. 25: Mylapalli Ganesh, the 23-year-old married man and resident of New Rajarajeswaripet, is eking out livelihood by working in a hotel and earns Rs 150 per day.

He is not able to attend to work for the last five days due to malaria and viral fever. A small hut in which he was living was destroyed in a fire accident recently. Ganesh is depending on money lenders for medical treatment since he has no money to meet the expenses. He has spent over Rs 2,000 in four days for tests, fee and drugs.

“I have no father and my house was also burnt in a fire accident,” he said.

Ganesh has to look after his wife. Future looks grim for Ganesh because he does know how much amount he has to spend for full recovery.

P. Nagaraju, a petty trader in New Rajarajeswaripet is bed-ridden for two weeks after he was attacked by malaria and viral fever. The 50-year-old petty trader is not able to go to the shop to eke out a livelihood.

Hospital is the only place he is visiting for the past two weeks.

“Medical tests revealed that I was attacked by phalsipharm malaria which made me very weak,” the petty trader said. He is the breadwinner of the family.

Like Ganesh and Nagaraju, several hundreds of people living in New Rajarajeswaripet are suffering from various types of fevers. The area is represented by Telugu Desam floor leader, Yerubotu Ramana Rao.

Mr Ramana Rao said poor hygienic conditions and mosquito menace are the two important reasons for the fevers.

More than 1,000 families out of 3,000 in the colony are affected by seasonal diseases. Most of the residents are poor living on daily wages.

Most residents shifted from Padmavathi Ghat area four years ago. The residents are demanding the VMC to check the spread of viral fevers and provide treatment.

Dr M. Satyanarayana Raju, chief medical officer, VMC, has admitted that viral fevers are rampant in New Rajarajeswaripet.

He said medical camps were being conducted for the last four days and an ambulance would be pressed into service to shift the patients to the government hospital. He said measures have been taken to improve hygienic conditions in the colony.

Mayor M.V. Ratna Bindu said the slum dwellers in the colony would be shifted to new blocks constructed under JNNURM scheme in two months.