By P.D.BHATIA : Sara D’Souza, a resident of Mira Road, who had tested positive for HINI virus, had been showing signs of improvement after being treated at Kasturba Hospital.
Sara, who was the first confirmed case for swine flu from Mira Bhayander, was rushed to Kasturba Hospital, Ten-year old Sara D’Souza stays with her mother in Shanti Nagar, Mira Road East. Sara’s father, Clifford works in an American cruise ship company he had been to Mira Road in December 2008. He left for work again in February 2009.
On 18th August another resident of Mira-Bhayander a 27-year-old pregnant lady who tested positive for H1N1 influenza was declared critical by the civic authorities. The woman, who had been on a ventilator later delivered a stillborn baby that evening.
The Mira-Bhayander resident was brought in a critical condition to Kasturba on Sunday afternoon. “She had full-blown Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. And she was close to her delivery date,” Dr Pradeep Awate, the in-charge of state’s swine flu cell, said. “She delivered a stillborn child around 5.30pm on Monday.” The doctor, however, said that the stillbirth was not related to her swine flu infection. But he added that the matter had to be investigated.
There are four suspected cases of swine flu in Mumbai. Mira-Bhayander Municipal Commissioner, Shiv Murti Naik and Mayor, Narendra Mehta convened meeting of all the school principals in Mira-Bhayander, and had asked them to shut their schools till August 20, 2009.But even after the Notification of shutting down the schools, few private schools went ahead and opened the schools one of such school was “Subodh Vidyalaya” in Bhayander west on Siddhivinayak Marg, for which I had personally spoken to the Commissioner Mr.Shivmurty Naik who said he will get the school closed immediately, its also to be noted that the school is running in a residential Building on the ground floor 6 flats where the residents of the building have been complaining to the Managing committee of the school regarding the inconvenience caused by the school.But as the secretary of the building himself is a trustee in the school and also works for Media he has been throwing his weight around and the school is not being moved out of the building which is a totally different story.
Schools have shut and re-opened but till now there are no centres for checking of Swine flu in Mira-Bhayander, when I tried to contact the Medical officer of Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation Mr.Chakor he was un available for comment and also not answering his cell. A city which has a population of approx 10 lakh people does not have even one centre for testing and they have to rush to Bhagwati Hospital at Borivali which is already coping with the load of western suburbs,The MBMC is following a cover up policy with a lax attitude which might prove the citizens very dearly.
Only thing what the schools in Mira Bhayander are doing is if they find a child who has cough, cold they make him separate in the class, but is that a solution? maybe a kid has a contracted the virus and due to him the entire class, school, his family and the neighbour hood is affected with it what happens then. None of the schools have come up with any Medical assistance plan incase of any emergencies, which should have been put in place during the period when the schools were shut for a period of 1 week. But as the MBMC itself has adopted a wait and watch policy nothing will change. So the residents of Mira-Bhayander are at the mercy of God.
As the President of the Siddhivinayak Marg Residents Association we had already submitted a request letter to Mr.Shiv Murty Naik but I think it didn’t have any effect.This is again a request to the Mira-Bhayander Municipal Commissioner to act quickly and get things in order before the city gets in to Crisis Mode.