Jaundice scare in Badagada, BMC checks ground situation
Sources said jaundice cases have been detected in multiple residential colonies of Badagada area. 'Close to a dozen jaundice cases have detected in the locality in the recent weeks. The ongoing drainage work right above the water supply pipes could have caused leakage and contamination,' said a resident.
As per a BMC official, after reports of suspected jaundice cases surfaced, a joint team of Urban Metropolitan Surveillance Unit, Rapid Response Team and ADUPHO office conducted field investigation to identify possible sources. The team visited Uparasahi, Karuna Basti and Kalinga Basti within Badagada locality.
A BMC team led by mayor Sulochana Das had also visited Trident Galaxy apartment recently following reports of outbreak of diarrhoea, jaundice and other gastrointestinal diseases in the residential complex due to groundwater contamination. They had warned action against the developer for failing to comply with the sanitation norms.
Meanwhile, in another development, the enforcement squad of BMC collected around Rs 11,000 towards fine from some roadside eateries in KIMS hospital area, over alleged violation of food safety norms. So far, three hotels and a packaged water unit have been sealed in the city for unhygiene practice. The crackdown will continue, said food safety officer Satyajit Patel.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
29 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Invite public suggestions before deciding on controlled pigeon feeding: HC to BMC
MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to invite public suggestions and objections before taking any decision regarding allowing controlled pigeon feeding in Mumbai between 6 am and 8 am every day. Mumbai, India. Aug 13, 2025: Heavy police security around Dadar Kabutra Khana. a. Marathi Ekikaran Samiti workers protested at Dadar Kabutar Khana, demanding that the authorities maintain the ban on pigeon feeding and close Kabutar Khana. Mumbai, India. Aug 13, 2025. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Raju Shinde) A division bench of justices GS Kulkarni and Arif Doctor was hearing petitions filed by animal rights activists and the Jain trust managing the Dadar Kabutarkhana against the BMC's crackdown on pigeon-feeding grounds due to health concerns linked to pigeon droppings and feathers. After the BMC told the high court that it has proposed allowing controlled pigeon feeding for two hours in the morning at the kabutarkhana every day, the bench replied, 'You cannot just make such a decision now. It has to be well considered. Since the decisions to ban feeding of the pigeons and to close the kabutarkhanas were in (the) larger public interest, the sanctity of the same has to be maintained.' However, advocate general Dr Birendra Saraf, representing the state, raised concerns over this directive. 'If we overwhelm the authorities with public hearings, it will make the work unmanageable,' he said. Saraf also submitted a list of 11 names, including doctors, town planning department officials, microbiologists and other experts, who will be appointed to a committee that will examine the impact of pigeon feeding on citizens' health. The committee will be notified by August 20, he said, adding, 'The state is equally concerned about public health. We want finality in the situation. Inputs will be invited from different bodies of experts to discuss the issues. Inputs from the petitioners will not suffice.' The high court is hearing a bunch of petitions related to the ban on feeding pigeons and the closure of kabutarkhanas across Mumbai. The matter escalated into a major controversy after members of the Jain community protested against the ban, citing religious and cultural traditions. On August 6, hundreds of people tore down the plastic sheet covering the Dadar Kabutarkhana that was installed by the BMC after enforcing the ban. During the last hearing on August 7, the high court had emphasised that public health, especially that of children and senior citizens, was paramount. It also suggested appointing a committee of experts to examine the impact of pigeon-feeding. The court had already invited medical opinions from lung specialists, who pointed out the adverse health impact of proximity to pigeons. 'The state can appoint a committee, as it is the guardian and custodian of public health and citizens, to balance the interests of the larger population,' the bench had said. It added that when actions such as closing kaburkhanas were taken on the basis of modern scientific research, the judges were not experts to issue such directions. 'If the committee decides they have been rightly closed, then certainly such expert opinion needs to prevail in the larger interest of public health and the state government or the corporation would not take a decision against expert opinion,' the bench had said. 'We are only concerned about public health. There are a few people who want to feed the pigeons. It is for the government to now to take a decision.' The BMC had earlier told the court that pigeon droppings and feathers triggered asthma and other diseases such as hypersensitivity pneumonitis. A medical report submitted to the court highlighted that exposure to pigeons and their droppings could harm lungs and cause acute breathlessness. It said that most people realised this medical condition too late, after fibrosis had already begun in the lungs. No drug is available to cure or reverse fibrosis, it added. One of the petitioners, Pallavi Patil, had earlier approached the Supreme Court, challenging the Bombay High Court order directing the police to register FIRs against people who continue to feed pigeons at kabutarkhanas. The apex court had, however, refused to interfere with the high court's proceedings.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Jogeshwari residents await a footpath for over 3 years
Mumbai: When Neeta Shah, a 75-year-old pedestrian, died in Malabar Hill on Tuesday after being forced to walk on the road due to the absence of a footpath and coming under the wheels of a bus, it served as a brutal reminder to Jogeshwari West resident Mansoor Darvesh about the fate that could befall residents of his area. Jogeshwari West resident Mansoor Darvesh has been pleading with the BMC to construct a footpath along Swami Vivekananda Road, from Millat Hospital to the Amboli BIT Chowky, for more than three years now (Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) Darvesh, 65, has been pleading with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to construct a footpath along Swami Vivekananda Road, from Millat Hospital to the Amboli BIT Chowky, for more than three years now. 'The stretch has crazy traffic and footpaths are non-existent or hardly there,' Darvesh told Hindustan Times. 'Moreover, cars and bikes routinely climb onto the footpath wherever it is there, posing huge risks to children and patients walking along.' The roughly one-kilometre-long stretch sees massive traffic, especially during peak hours, and is also used by scores of pedestrians across age groups, HT found during a visit to the area. The road is flanked by two hospitals and three big schools, which cumulatively cater to nearly 15,000 students, including many who walk to school. In most parts, the space left for footpaths is taken over by garbage and sludge. The few patches where a narrow footpath does exist, encroachments such as roadside stalls and eateries block the way, leaving no option for pedestrians but to walk deep inside the road while negotiating heavy traffic. The situation gets especially problematic during the monsoon, when water collects on both sides of the road and mixes with the sludge to make even walking along the road side unfeasible, said Mohammed Sharif, a resident of the area. 'Still, so many school children walk on the road and we worry they will get into an accident sooner rather than later,' Sharif said. Perturbed by the situation and apprehensions of an accident, like the one that occurred in Malabar Hill on Tuesday, Sharif's neighbour Darvesh first complained to the K West ward office in March 2022. Most parts of Jogeshwari West come under the K West ward, and Darvesh demanded, via his letter to the ward office, that a proper footpath be constructed along the SV Road stretch to cater to the needs and safety of pedestrians. Since the letter elicited no response, he complained to the ward office again in April. In June, he submitted an application under the Right to Information Act, asking if any action had been taken on his earlier complaints. Around a month later, in July 2022, the ward office responded to his complaints, saying the portion of SV Road he had referred to would be widened and footpaths would be constructed thereafter. He also received a response to his RTI application around the same time, saying his query had been resolved. 'Though the ward office did respond to my letters, no timeline was provided regarding when the road would be widened and when we could expect a footpath,' he said. Since then, Darvesh has been sending reminder letters to the K West ward office every few months. 'But I never get a response,' he said. 'Given the incident in Malabar Hill this week, I will follow up again. Maybe, the authorities will respond this time.'
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Lab-grown rabies antibodies show promise as cheaper, safer alternative
Mumbai: India's public hospitals and dispensaries may soon have a safer, more affordable option for preventing rabies after a suspected rabid dog bite: one already in use in private clinics since 2017 and by BMC since 2019. A post-marketing clinical trial involving more than 4,000 participants, conducted and funded by a pharmaceutical company and recently published in The Lancet, could now pave the way for its large-scale public use. For decades, the life-saving protocol has been the same across public or private health set ups: wash the wound, inject a dose of rabies immunoglobulin if the bite is severe, and follow with multiple doses of anti-rabies vaccine. The possible shift lies in the kind of immunoglobulin used. The relatively new lab-made candidate could replace the animal and human derived versions in use since the 1970s. An immunoglobulin is a concentrated solution of antibodies, injected directly into and around the bite, that offers immediate but short-term protection against the virus, effectively buying time until the vaccine takes full effect. The earliest ones in use have been derived either from rabies-vaccinated horses (Equine Rabies Immunoglobulin - ERIG) or human donated plasma (Human Rabies Immunoglobulin - HRIG). by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like No annual fees for life UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo In 2016, Serum Institute of India (SII) received permission to make immunoglobulin which has monoclonal (lab-made,RmAb) antibodies. You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai | Gold Rates Today in Mumbai | Silver Rates Today in Mumbai "Most private facilities at least in Mumbai have phased out the use of the horse-derived one. While it has been proven safe at large, there are risks associated; it can cause mild allergic reactions or in rare cases a serious adverse event," said Dr Trupti Gilada, city-based infectious disease specialist. The private facilities have moved on to either the human derived or lab-made ones. "Both, human derived one and the lab-made one have high efficacy. The former has risk of infection transmission, though rare. The ones made in labs are safer and more easily available due to ease of largescale production," said Dr Mandar Kubal, another infectious disease specialist. A survey by ICMR published in July on the availability of anti-rabies vaccine and rabies immunoglobulin in health facilities found that, of the 534 facilities surveyed across 15 states and 60 districts -- 467 in the public sector -- 78% still used horse derived immunoglobulin. But even that was out of stock for most apart from a small 20.3% of those surveyed. While BMC uses the lab-made alternative, it is no stranger to shortages; at the moment it is short of rabies vaccine shots. A senior doctor from one of the four BMC-run medical college hospitals, said, "Mumbai has a heavy burden of dog bite cases and early on BMC decided to move on from animal derived ones due to risks associated. We either use generic human derived immunoglobulin or largely lab-made alternatives." But this lab-made alternative is still to make its way into the National Guidelines for Rabies Prophylaxis. The ICMR survey states, "RmAb presents as a promising alternative to both HRIG and ERIG. Compared to ERIG, RmAb offers the potential scope for large-scale production with standardised quality, elimination of animal use in the manufacturing, and reduced risk of adverse events. "It is cheaper compared to HRIG. Studies have shown that RmAbs are safe for human use, but... [there is] need for larger clinical trials and post-marketing surveillance to assess the safety and efficacy of RmAbs in the Indian setting." The Serum Institute–funded post marketing trial of its lab-made product compared with horse-derived immunoglobulin found to be equally effective in preventing rabies, with slightly higher average antibody levels on day 14. It was linked to fewer mild adverse events (11 vs. 17), and no serious reactions related to RmAb were reported, compared with one serious reaction related to ERIG. "Anti-rabies vaccines and immunoglobulins are severely in shortage across the country. Monoclonal antibodies is the answer [due to scalability] and it needs to be included in the national guidelines," said one of the authors of the ICMR survey. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
