'Diarrhoea' deaths: gloom in village

By P. S. Suresh Kumar

RAMANATHAPURAM, APRIL 8. A pall of gloom descended on Erwadi, a tiny coastal village in Ramanathapuram district, after eight inmates of homes for mentally retarded persons, including a woman, reportedly died of diarrhoea on Friday.

With panic gripping the village where the mentally retarded persons are brought for cure, several people, who had come to the place, seeking the `spiritual cure', have started leaving the village.

Erwadi, with an 800-year-old durgah of Quthubus Sultan Syed Ibrahim Shaheed Valiyullah, which draws hundreds of devotees from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and even from north India, is

a `tourist spot' without basic infrastructural facilities. Poor

drainage, mounting heaps of garbage and stray cattle and dogs in the village have added to the unhygienic condition which is conducive to diseases.

In more than 15 homes for the mentally retarded including three exclusively for women - all situated near the durgah - over 400 patients were being kept in fetters. Absence of proper care, adequate food, potable water and basic amenities like toilets have rendered their condition worse. There seemed to be no rules and regulations framed by the district administration for setting up such homes.

The office-bearers of the Dargah Haqhdhaar Management Committee have already written a letter to the District Collector and other higher officials, stressing the need for streamlining the growth of the `mental homes' and requesting them to take action against those who indulged in exploiting the mentally retarded. But, till now, no steps have been taken in this regard, according to an official of the committee.

Though devotees in large numbers are thronging the durgah daily, they have to bear with the lack of basic amenities around the place of worship. It is only now that works are going on for the construction of 30 toilets including 15 exclusively for women within the premises of the durgah.

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Section  : Regional
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