Swallowing mystery object claims 4-year-old's life

Veda Ramaswamy, Mumbai
June 5, 2012 - Mid Day

Mother says toddler gestured with hands that something was stuck in his throat after he came home from play

Grief-stricken: Suvarna and Shashikant Sawant grieving Manthan’s loss

Tragedy struck Suvarna and Shashikant Sawant, when their four-year-old son, Manthan, was declared dead on arrival at Ghatkopar’s Rajawadi Hospital around 11 am yesterday. However, mystery shrouds Manthan’s death, as he was hale and hearty when he left home to play with his colony friends. The Sawants are residents of Gautam Nagar in Govandi.

“Manthan had chapati with jam and a couple of rava ladoos for breakfast following which he left home to play with his colony friends. However, he came back within 10 minutes. He was feeling restless and started vomiting,” said Suvarna. She also said that Manthan was gesturing with his hands that something was stuck in his throat and she thumped his back, hoping that it would help him get it out. But Manthan collapsed in her lap, and stopped breathing.

“The incident occurred around 10 am in the morning. We immediately rushed him to Sai Kripa Hospital in Chembur. The hospital staff advised us to admit him to Rajawadi hospital, as they lacked ICU facility. But he was declared dead on arrival at Rajawadi,” said Suvarna. His aunt said, “All of us had the same breakfast and sweets. Nothing has happened to any of us. I am certain that he might have swallowed some object, maybe a coin while playing, which led to his unfortunate death.”

“The autopsy report is not yet out. Once we have it, only then can we confirm the exact cause of his death,” said Pandit Sonawane, API, Deonar police station. A case has been registered under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code (doubt regarding the cause of death). Till last night, the police officials were still awaiting the report, so that they could give Sawants the permission to claim the toddler’s body and perform last rites.

“Two months ago, he had fallen off a moving truck, and had injured his jaw. But he made it through that. Little did I know that his life would come to such an abrupt end. He was supposed to start schooling this month,” mourned Suvarna. 

Remembering Manthan as an energetic and a playful child, Supriya, a neighbour, said, “He used to play all day long. He was a very active boy. We thought he would become a sportsperson someday. Of all the children, he was his grandmother’s beloved and she would fondly call him ‘Sonya’."

Link to original article available here.

Local NGOs teach disaster management

Veda Ramaswamy, Mumbai,
June 18, 2012 - Mid Day

With monsoons beginning in the city, local ALMs and NGOs have begun organising disaster management classes for citizens in the area. Kicking it off this Sunday was the AGNI K-East Joint Area Action Group (JAAG).

The class was conducted by Rajesh G Shirke, a certified health and safety auditor from the National Safety Council of India, specialising in damage control and advanced fire fighting.

In three hours, he covered topics like causes, prevention and control of fire. He also threw light on handling kitchen fires, LPG and pipe-gas leakages. He taught various survival and rescue techniques in case of fires and floods, first-aid for burn injuries, heart attacks, bleeding and CPR procedures. In the end, there were practical sessions conducted on how to operate fire extinguishers and douse live fires.

With the arrival of the monsoons, the probability of disaster striking has only increased. Shirke advises Mumbaikars to get their houses surveyed for leakages. “Once leakages are identified and dealt with, electrical fires can be averted,” he said.

Stressing on the philosophy that prevention is better than cure, he added, “Instead of fretting over the price of fire-alarm devices, people should install them. If you wouldn’t have a family to protect in the first place, whom are you saving up for?”

Dhanalakshmi Rao, a resident of Marol who attended the session said, “Despite owning a fire extinguisher, I never knew how to use it. Not only did I learn how to operate one here, I also doused a fire.”

Another attendee, Veronica Miranda, a resident of Dadar, found the class highly informative. “Such sessions should be conducted often. The public should be aware of fire-fighting and damage control techniques, especially during the rainy season when such cases occur frequently,” she said.

Link to original article available here.

17-yr-old cyclist dies under BEST wheels

Anuradha Varanasi and Veda Ramaswamy, Mumbai
June 4, 2012 - Mid Day

Teenager sustained grievous head and chest injuries after bus rammed him from behind; succumbed to injuries before he could reach the hospital.

In yet another case of rash driving by a BEST driver, a 17-year-old boy lost his life when the bus driver rammed the teen’s bicyle from behind at Dadar (W) yesterday.

The boy, identified as Shubham Shinde, a Std X student of Sharadashram Vidyamandir School, was on his way to his tuition classes when tragedy struck.

The bus conductor rushed the youth to KEM Hospital, but he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Police said the accident happened close to Portuguese Church at 10.45 am, in which Shubham suffered severe head and chest injuries.

The bus driver Sanjeev Jandev Bholnagale (44) has been placed under police custody and has been booked under section 304A of the IPC (causing death by negligence).

The young boy’s father, Ram Krishna Shinde (48), is a head constable at the Mumbai Police’s Social Service branch (SS) at Crawford Market, and the family resides at Worli police camp.

In mourning

“The family members are in a state of shock right now. The post mortem of the boy has been conducted and an FIR has been lodged against the bus driver by the father,” said Balakrishna Ghadigaonkar, assistant police inspector at Dadar police station.

Speaking to MiD DAY, the victim’s father said, “My son had breakfast and left home as usual for his classes. But at around 11:30 am we got a call from KEM Hospital notifying us about the accident. When we reached the hospital, we were informed about his death. My family will leave for our native place in Satara to perform his last rites.”

They were informed about what happened at the scene by the cops. “I wonder why God has snatched my son away. We are devastated,” he added.

Link to the original article available here. 

BMC and hospitals set to fight malaria this monsoon

Team Sunday Mid Day, Mumbai
June 10, 2012 - Mid Day

A BMC worker carries out fogging at Parel ahead of body’s drive to control malaria and dengue during the monsoons last year

Although malaria cases in the city have dropped by almost 60 per cent for the period of January to May as compared to the same period last year, this monsoon, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will also survey abandoned buildings in addition to under-construction sites to keep a check on the spread of the disease.

According to Additional Municipal Commissioner (Health) Manisha Mhaisakar, “There has been a 50 per cent drop in cases from 2010-11. Over 6,000 cases of malaria have been recorded in the city from January to May. This shows a reduction of almost 60 per cent as compared to the same period last year.

This time we will also conduct 100 health camps across the city.” A BMC official from the health department added, on condition of anonymity, that as soon as cases of jaundice and gastroenteritis are reported at any of the civic hospitals, hydraulic engineers will be directed to the locality where the patients reside, to repair any leakage.

Of 2,622 construction sites, civic officials have visited 2,078. They found water stagnation and vector breeding at 619 buildings, of which 600 have been cleared. This year, the BMC has marked G South ward, E ward and K East ward as critical malaria-prone areas in the city. Six thousand posters have been distributed and an awareness campaign will be conducted across 1,38,000 buildings in the city.

“Data for 2012 shows a positive trend, with 6,762 cases of malaria registered in five months, as compared to 21,366 cases for the same time duration, last year. There was a 48 per cent decline in 2011, with 39,822 cases registered as compared to 76,755 cases in 2010. We hope to tackle malaria successfully this year as well,” said Dr Mangala Gomade, head of epidemiology, BMC.

Hospitals ready

City hospitals say they are ready to combat an outbreak, if it happens. At KEM Hospital, Lower Parel, AMO Dr Pravin Bangar said that no cases of malaria or dengue have come in so far. While part of the ground floor in the old building continues to undergo renovation, an OPD is scheduled to be set up on Monday to provide treatment for monsoon-related illnesses.

One hundred and eighty, 120, 140 and 590 beds have been set up for malaria and dengue cases in KEM, Nair, Sion and Kasturba Hospital, respectively. There are 2,147 beds at the other 16 peripheral hospitals of the BMC in the city.

While the malaria menace has started to blanket the Chembur suburbs, it is yet to become a peril in areas like Ghatkopar and Sion. The medical superintendent of Rajawadi Hospital, Dr Shubhash Poyekar, said, “Our hospital has not yet registered an outbreak of malaria cases.

Being a malaria-endemic region, receiving 10-12 cases a day is a regular trend in the monsoon.” Dr Rajeev Singh, AMO, Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, Sion, added, “The monsoon has just hit the city. Cases of malaria will increase soon.”

Reality bites

6,762 cases of malaria have been registered in five months, as compared to 21,366 cases for the same period last year. There was a 48 per cent decline in 2011, with 39,822 cases registered as compared to 76,755 cases in 2010

(With inputs from Rinkita Gurav, Aditya Hariharan, Anuradha Varanasi & Veda Ramaswamy)

Link to the original article available here.

"I am completely against gym culture"

Veda Ramaswamy, Vashi,

May 11, 2010 - DNA Navi Mumbai

Good sense and good health are life’s two greatest blessings and Koparkhairane resident Nupur Sinha believes she has effectively used the former to gain the later. Mother of two, Sinha now has ample time to pursue her interests as her children have grown up and are independent.

An active sportsperson during her school and college days, Nupur always laid emphasis on fitness. All through her younger days, she boasted of a lean and athletic figure. The birth of her children, however, proved to be a turning point as she failed to lose the excess weight gained during pregnancy. 

Family commitments remained top priority and Sinha got too engaged in nurturing her children, rather than trying to get back in to shape. In no time, she had put on oodles of weight. Reality struck her only when she could no longer fit in to her swimming costume. An ace swimmer, Sinha spent many years honing her swimming skills before marriage but repented not being able to pursue the sport anymore. 

She realised her folly and again began regularly devoting her time to fitness. That was three years back. She has now successfully lost 22 kg, thanks to her new exercise regime. 

Instead of enrolling in a gym, she opted for conventional forms of weight loss like walking. She said, “I was always against the idea of going to a gym as I found it monotonous. I had promised my husband that I would become fit without losing a penny and I fulfilled it.” 

Since the last three years, she has engaged herself in various activities like brisk walking, yoga and swimming, which helped her regain fitness. She walks for 50 minutes in the morning and evening, covering a distance of 12 km daily. Sinha also learnt water ballet and practices yoga each day. 

Sinha said, “I credit my weight loss to the powerful combination of walking, swimming and pranayam. I practice these sincerely, thoroughly and religiously.” According to her, walking is the best exercise one can do as it not only helps lose weight but also provides an individual with enormous amount of energy and enthusiasm to carry out day-to-day chores.

She also follows a nutritious diet which has helped her a lot. For breakfast, she has one bowl of oats or cornflakes. Her lunch comprises one bowl of rice and dal and dinner comprises two rotis and sabzi. She munches on a few almonds in case of sudden hunger pangs. Her favourite food remains simple dal chaval with ghee. She believes that one must never skip meals or cut down on nutrition. “One should enjoy eating everything in moderate quantities,” she advised. 

Sinha’s journey was not easy though as her efforts failed to show any positive results initially but her determination, hard work and patience saw her through. “It was disappointing initially as there were no immediate results but gradually my efforts showed and that gave me immense motivation,” said Sinha. 

Her foremost source of inspiration has been her friends and family who supported her throughout this journey. She has gained a whole new perspective to life with her new-found personality. Exercise helped her gain confidence and Sinha is much more enthusiastic now than before. Her stamina has increased incredibly. She said, “I receive compliments that I look younger by the day. Such a response makes me happy and inspires me to maintain my fitness regime.”

Even during vacations with family and friends, she makes it a point to follow her fitness regime. In fact, she sees such vacations as an opportunity to exercise and have fun with all of them. “Health is not valued till sickness comes. Many people spend their health gaining wealth and then have to spend their wealth to regain their health. People should devote some time from their hectic work schedule to exercise and enhance their fitness levels,” she advised.