UP’s Ballia, Deoria see 150 deaths in 5 days; minister says heatwave one of the reasons

“The number of patients in Emergency (ward) have increased. The arrangements need to be improved and the temperatures are high… Elderly patients have been affected mostly,” said the minister, who is an MLA from the Ballia Assembly segment.

A team comprising two director-level health officials from Lucknow is conducting an investigation into the reasons behind the spike in deaths at the Ballia hospital.

The district hospital in Deoria has also seen an increase in the number of deaths in recent days, a senior hospital official told The Indian Express on Monday.

“Most of the deceased are people with different ailments, aged above 60 years. When we are healthy, we can fight heat and cold conditions, but a person with existing issues may not be able to fight off the heat. However, no deaths due to the heatwave have been confirmed so far,” the official said.

On June 14, the Deoria hospital reported 13 people as having been brought dead. The next day, the number was 12, the day after that it was nine and on June 17, the number of those brought dead was 30. On Sunday (June 18), the hospital reported 18 people brought dead.

On a regular day, fewer than four people are brought dead to the hospital, an official said.

In Ballia, District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar said Sunday that there was no “solid evidence” yet linking the deaths to the high temperatures.

The state government on Saturday removed Dr Diwakar Singh as the chief medical superintendent of the Ballia district hospital for “giving a careless statement on deaths caused by heatwave without having proper information”.

On Friday evening Singh had said a total of 34 people had died due to heatstroke between Thursday and Friday.

According to hospital authorities, 23 people died on June 15, 20 on June 16, 11 on June 17, and 14 on June 18.

Ballia Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Jayant Kumar said on Monday that all possible care was being provided to patients at the district hospital. “The heat levels are high because of which the number of our indoor patients have increased. A total of 178 patients were admitted at the district hospital on Sunday. We are watching them and giving them care. In 24 hours, 14 deaths have happened of people who were suffering with different diseases because of which they have died. All kinds of arrangements have been made, like medicines, staff and coolers,” he said.

Kumar also said that there was no lack of space for patients at the hospital.

Regarding the investigation into the cause of the spike in deaths, he said the team from Lucknow had inspected the hospital and met the patients. “Samples of drinking water, blood, and urine are being sent for investigations. Our teams have gone to areas where the majority of patients have come from. They will submit a report and then the situation will be clear.”

Regarding the situation at the Deoria district hospital, its Chief Medical Superintendent, Dr H K Mishra, said that since June 1, there have been four deaths that were suspected cases of heatstroke, but added that this was not confirmed. He said that all patients coming into the emergency ward were being “given all possible treatment”.

Also Read

PM Modi US Visit Live Updates: PM Modi arrives in US on landmark state vi...

NY City ballerina to lead yoga day event in presence of Modi today

Govt withdraws controversial livestock bill

Odisha train tragedy: CBI questions junior engineer, seals house ahead of...

Deoria Chief Medical Officer Dr Rajesh Jha said, “We have instructed hospital staff to ensure proper availability of ORS… We have told ambulance drivers to give priority to heat stroke patients. A separate ward has been created at the district hospital. We already have an Early Detection Centre.”