Author:
Publication: The Times of India
Date: September 11, 2005
He waded through chest-high flood waters in Chembur, fished out bodies from the landslide at Saki Naka and sprayed insecticide on carcasses at the Deonar dumping grounds.
But N J Parmar, a civic employee who went about his job after the July 26, deluge, succumbed to suspected leptospirosis on August 18. Parmar, who was a member of the pest control cell, died in a Navi Mumbai nursing home, away from the civic healthcare machinery that was well-stocked to help him.
Parmar, a junior overseer in the BMC's M-ward, did not return home for two days after the deluge. 'And later he would come late at night and leave early morning," says his wife Kumud, who wonders how she will pay for her kids' education.
Parmar, who was later also sent to the Deonar dumping ground for spraying insecticide, was struck with fever on Aug 3. The local doctor diagnosed it as malaria. "His condition worsened by Aug 5 and we admitted him to a local hospital. But he never recovered," said Kumud.
Kumud has been left with a bill of Rs 1.75 lakh and has had to sell her jewellery and borrow money to pay it. Ironically, Parmar could have been saved if he had been admitted to a BMC hospital. "Even a peripheral hospital would have ensured he was treated for the disease," said civic chief Johny Joseph.