Fear of disease stalks refugee camp at Majnu Ka Tila

Fifteen-year-old Sundari scouts the surroundings at the Hindu refugee camp near the Gurudwara at Majnu Ka Tila for food while her family waits under a tree with an eye infection.

The camp that would earlier have weekly garbage pick-ups and porta-toilets cleanliness has been neglected as infectious diseases affect the residents.

Like Sundari’s family, 20 other families (comprising 5-7 members) are struggling with contagious conjunctivitis in the 300 individuals living in the camp. Few wear shades while others cover their eyes with a handkerchief and children run around and pause to rub their eyes.

Millennium Post visited the Hindu refugee camp near the Gurudwara at Majnu Ka Tila. As the Yamuna water started to recede, a public health threat now looms large with eye infections dominating jhuggies. Apart from conjunctivitis, skin allergies are also rising among residents.

A 25-year-old Rano showed a fungal skin infection with pus oozing out and said that it started occurring on Sunday.

With no medical assistance reaching the camp, the residents have been left to look out for themselves. “Several of my friends in the flood relief camp had it now, even I do,” 10-year-old Gauri said.

Poor sanitation and garbage disposal have always been a problem at the Hindu refugee camp. The pile of open garbage lying at the camp has been like that for weeks, as nobody has come to collect it. “Earlier once a week someone from the MCD would come but that has stopped now,” Geetaram added.

The 4 portable washrooms are not in a usable condition and have not been cleaned in the last two months.

Most of the Hindu camp residents defecate in the open while the few who have toilet facilities in their homes cannot use them as the sewage is clogged.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) reported 27 cases of dengue in the Capital this week, while 163 cases have been reported so far. The city had recorded 18 dengue cases in April while 23 were reported in May. In this month so far, 41 cases of dengue have been logged by the MCD.

As water receded from their homes people have returned from the flood relief camps and are trying to pick up their lives from where they left. Sundari’s kitchen in her house is underwater and no government or NGO has reached the camp yet.

“Thankfully water has receded now and the kitchen is visible but it is covered in silt and mud,” she said pointing to the mud stove. “We will not be going to school for a while now. We have to clean our homes first,” she added.