Eye infections, lost spectacles among problems of flood-hit

Tribune News Service

Manav Mander

Ludhiana, July 22

Residents of flood-hit areas in Ludhiana are not only facing vector and waterborne diseases, they are also confronted with problems related to the eye. While some have lost their spectacles in floods, many others have developed infections in their eyes due to contaminated water.

An eye camp was held at Dhoka Mohalla, where many patients are facing eyes-related issues, on Friday.

Shankar Kumar, a resident of the colony, said that his eyes were itching and had turned red, adding the problem was probably caused by contaminated water being supplied in the area.

Another resident, Rita, said, “I am facing a lot of difficulty as I lost my spectacles during floods. So today when I came to know about the camp, I came here to get a new pair of spectacles,” she added.

Five-year-old Ajay has developed an infection in his eyes. As the area got flooded, he had to wade through the floodwater to survive, and later developed rashes on his body and redness in the eyes.

Dr Raman, in-charge at one of the eye camps in the flood-hit areas, said, “Constant exposure to contaminated floodwaters has led to infection in the eyes. Children are the worst-affected as they might have used polluted water to wash their faces.” He advised patients with eye infections to avoid touching their eyes and wash their hands frequently with clean water.