Chhattisgarh: 'Unknown' illness behind 61 deaths in remote village over 3 years, probe underway

In Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, villagers of Ragadgatta have claimed that an “unknown illness’ has resulted in the death of 61 people in nearly three years. In a letter to the district collector in late July, the residents of the village requested a team of doctors be dispatched to deal with the situation and prevent more fatalities. 

The authorities in the state have begun investigating the deaths, claimed to be due to a mystery illness. Initial probe of records suggested by the officials suggests that 47 deaths were due to various reasons which include natural causes and ailments. Water contamination has not been ruled out yet.

A detailed report is awaited to understand the heavy metal content like arsenic in water and soil in the village. A team of specialists is scheduled to visit the village on August 8 to conduct a detailed study of environmental causes behind the deaths in the village with 130 families and a population of over 1,000. 

In the letter to the Sukma district collector, the villagers claimed that the deaths included young men and women, who had symptoms of swelling on their hands and legs. A team of healthcare personnel and other experts visited the area last week after the alarm was raised by the villagers.

"Preliminary investigation suggests that 47 people died in that village in the last three years but all of them did not die due to the same reason as claimed by the locals," Sukma collector Harish S told PTI.

The swelling observed in the people who died could have different reasons. As per initial water sample testing, an excess of fluoride level was found in two water sources of 20 checked. Eight sources had iron content beyond limit. 

"But as of now, we cannot say that the deaths were caused due to heavy metal content in water as consumption of water carrying high fluoride causes bone weakness and there are no such symptoms in the local population," he added. Iron content does not cause sudden deaths. The official also said that other environmental reasons may be involved. Another reason speculated is chronic alcoholic behaviour among people which could cause kidney related ailments. 

41 people were identified with swelling and kidney related issues in checks by the visiting team of officials at the village. They were being provided treatment and their condition was stable. Two patients who are highly anaemic were admitted to the district hospital. 

Initial probe also showed that 15 deaths took place in the village this year due to multiple reasons, including renal diseases, old-age related problems and malaria, said District's Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Yashwant Dhruv. It is unconfirmed as of now as to how many of them died due to renal diseases, the official added. 

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(With inputs from PTI)