Doctors put off surgeries in drought-hit Marathwada

Latur: The severe drought in Marathwada, that had rocked the rural economy and led to farmer suicides, may now become a full-blown public health crisis that threatens over 5 lakh people in Latur, one of the worst drought-affected districts in the state.

The situation is so grim that doctors in the region are finding it tough to treat patients and are putting off surgeries because there simply isn’t enough water, and the district is running on whatever little water it is getting from tankers.

“We have to depend on tanker water — if we order a tanker today, it comes after two or three days, it is so bad. The tankers are finding it hard to supply water because they get water from borewells from far flung areas where the water table is going down,” said Deepak Gugale, president of the Latur Indian Medical Association, adding we will not be able to treat emergency cases also after 15 days. “We will only be able to run our OPDs.” Most doctors here said there wasn’t enough water to wash their hands before a surgery.

As a result, hospitals are forced to compromise on hygiene. While some surgeries can be put off, some like deliveries can’t. Snehal Deshmukh, a gynaecologist who runs a maternity hospital in Latur, is facing a tough time. “We can’t postpone deliveries, and maternity hospitals require a lot of water. A woman after a caesarian delivery used to be in the hospital for 5-7 days, but are now being discharged on the fourth day if she is medically fit,” said Deshmukh.

Latur has a government hospital too, which is facing an even worse crisis as it is flooded with patients. Urologist Dr Hansraj Baheti said the quality of tanker water is so bad that people are contracting diseases such as jaundice, typhoid, hepatitis and gastroenteritis. “The number of people suffering from kidney stones has increased three fold, this is because they are drinking borewell water which is hard.”