Ballia heat wave deaths: CMS transferred after 57 patients die at district hospital in 4 days, committee to discover cause of fatalities

Ballia heat wave deaths: Severe heat wave in northern India has led to several deaths in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states, with 57 deaths recorded from eastern UP's Ballia district alone. In total, 97 deaths have been recorded till Sunday, out of which 40 fatalities were reported from Bihar. In case of Ballia, the committee of state government's health department from Lucknow arrived at Ballia's district hospital to ascertain the cause behind the deaths, reports said on Sunday. However, authorities at the district hospital claimed that the deaths were not caused due to the heat wave. 

Ballia's Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Jayant Kumar claimed that only two people succumbed to heat waves in the district till Sunday. The two-member committee — the Director (Communicable Diseases) Dr A K Singh and the Director (Medical Care) K N Tiwari — who inspected the wards at the Ballia district hospital, also ruled out severe heat as the main cause behind the deaths of elderly patients in the district. 

However, the Chief Medical Superintendent (CMS) of the district hospital, Dr Divakar Singh, was transferred and sent to Azamgarh as he had stated that 20 patients had succumbed to heat in the hospital. 

The newly-appointed CMS Dr S K Yadav said that the hospital was under pressure due to an influx of 125 to 135 patients per day.

Ballia heat wave deaths: What caused the deaths?

"As per records of the district hospital, of the 54 deaths, 40 percent of the patients had fever, while 60 per cent were suffering from other diseases. So far, only two persons have died due to heat stroke in the district," CMO Kumar told PTI.

After the inspection, the member of the visiting committee Dr. AK Singh said, "The number of deaths is worrisome but in most of the cases death occurred within a few hours of hospitalisation." According to him, fever, chest pain, and irregular breathing are the common symptoms of heat waves effect.

"In most cases, deaths occurred between two and six hours of admission. Our medical staff couldn't get enough time to stabilize the patients or to get the necessary medical tests done," Singh said, adding that it would be too early to comment on the exact cause behind these deaths. He added that most of the patients who died were from Bansdih and Gadwar blocks of the district.

District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar said that the number of beds at the district hospital has been increased to accommodate more patients. "In order to ensure that patients at the district hospital do not face any difficulties, some air coolers and air-conditioners have been arranged.  Apart from this, 15 beds have also been increased," he added.

Ballia heat wave deaths: Politics heats up

Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Brajesh Pathak, who holds the health portfolio, said, "The superintendent's removal has been done since he had made a careless remark without having information about the heatwave. All the chief medical officers and the chief medical superintendents in the state have been instructed to identify each and every patient, and provide them treatment."

UP's Transport Minister and MLA from Ballia Nagar, Daya Shankar Singh, on Sunday said that the death rate of elderly people increases during the summer. "Most of the patients who died were in their 60s and 70s. Generally, this happens," he told reporters here on the sidelines of a programme.  

Former Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav hit out at the state government over the deaths in Ballia. "Thirty-six deaths in 24 hours in Ballia district hospital due to heat and heat stroke is an unfortunate and shameful incident. In Ballia, 121 patients have died in eight days. The poor are not getting treatment in hospitals," Yadav said in a statement. “The BJP government is neither able to provide electricity to the public nor it is able to provide treatment to them," he alleged.