Sufferings of Floodwater due to heavy rain in Hyderabad on 13th night of Oct 2020.

Hyderabad witnessed the very high rain fall on 13^th & 14^th of last month of this year and reported that about 30cm of rain fall has been recorded at some parts of the city within 24 hours of time i.e in one day. the rainfall was so intense, the city’s drainage system did not have the capacity to handle it. Many thinks that Hyderabad city doesn’t usually get floods because the city is geographically located in the elevated northern part of Deccan plateau. This was true in the past but due to the increased population, the build up area is rapidly increased and a very long colonies have been developed without any intermediate gaps to allow the rain water to get a diversion or a flow down to the lower levels. Due to this reason the rain water getting blocked within the same area where it rains and suppose if the rain is so intense, the water level gradually increases – initially submerging the roads then slowly the increased water level gushes into the houses making the life horrible particularly those who lives in the Ground floor.

some pictures of the colonies with the rainwater being pooled up and unable to drain out by the natural flow path of high level to low level area.

These are the inside pictures of my house, Knee-deep rainwater entered, and the water level marks can be seen here and immersed cupboard sliding doors absorbed the water and got blocked without moving. So, we had to remove the doors forcibly by pulling them out.

And these are the pictures of Post rain activities to Clean the house, drying of Sofas, some documents which were soaked in the rainwater. Few cloths, Mattresses and the bedding material were disposed by the Municipality garbage vehicle can also be seen in the picture. 

The below here is the satellite picture of my colony and * marked location of the house where I am staying. There is a big forest like area next to our colony also a simple stadium and all that slightly lower level than our living area. If there was some gap left or kept open to allow the water that is accumulating due to the heavy rain to divert to the adjacent areas, the flood like scenario wouldn’t have taken place to our colony.

 ⭐ -  My house location

 🠇 -  Walls broke / slashed to release the water   

The next morning, the local leaders came out & investigated all the colony and broke the walls that were recently build (the neighbors built these walls for the safety from wild animals being entered from the other side) at the arrow marked places and very soon the logged waters slipped off in a very little time.

Quality and TDS of ground water (bore water) directly-for-drinking is a matter of concern!

 

Recently a month back - while I was on a casual call with my father, he mentioned that with our bore water - a significant amount white substance is forming like a layer at top of the vessel  while they are boiling the water for drinking. And he asked me, is it a concern? I was Subtle and couldn’t answer him anything instead advised to purchase bottled water (R.O. Filtered) from any nearest source. Since it is a remote village (unlike in cities), they have to travel some distance to the nearest R.O. water plant to collect the water-can with their own arrangements on daily basis is a little bit of burden.

Drinking water quality is one of main suspect for high prevalence of kidney disease at my native place. The local state government also has some focus by initiating ‘stopCKD’ campaign to prevent new cases. Under this programme, the officials washed their hands by advising the villagers to change their food habits and consume purified drinking water and looks like there it ends! Further, an in-depth study would have been conducted to examine the incidence of kidney disease and there is any connection with the potable chemical water quality in this affected region (sorry if it is being done but I am not aware of).

Now coming back to understand the water issue at my village, I have ordered a TDS meter to check the quality of the water. TDS Meter is simple device used to measure Total Dissolved Solids in a particular source of water. After getting the meter, my father checked our bore water and it was showing 970 reading which is considerably high and likely close to unfit for drinking.

Is the water unfit for drinking If TDS is High?

Water with high TDS is not always un-safe to drink.

TDS Level in parts per million(ppm)	Palatability Quotient
150-250	Good
250-300	Fair
300-500	Poor
Above 1200	Unacceptable

 The presence of Calcium, potassium, sodium, Magnesium, chlorides increases the TDS level in the water but not dangerous to health.

However, some substances such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and uranium (U) are nephrotoxic elements can lead to health hazards and may cause kidney failure in long run.

So, now to decide whether our water with 970+ TDS is safe or unsafe, we have to further analyze its chemical composition. But individually its difficult to get such tests done from a remote rural location.

So what?

Appeal to the government authorities:

Uddanam region (with several mandals such as Ichchapuram, Sompeta, Kaviti, Palasa, Mandasa and Vajrapukotturu and Meliyaputti) is IDENTIFIED as high prevalence of CKD, so the concerned authorities shall conduct….

The study for investigating the water quality of the groundwater that shall be collected from all the above areas to assess its suitability for drinking purposes by doing TDS, Detailed chemical composition for identifying the existence of any nephrotoxic elements in the ground water and the PH values of the water at different segments.

If nephrotoxic elements are found, the study of urine samples collected from individuals of that region to check the presence of higher concentrations of any of these elements being excreted through urine can potentially cause any damage to kidneys.

And finally, a well study based - Water Quality Index (WQI) with emphasis on proposing appropriate drinking water treatment method to be developed and ensure the same treatment protocol/ methodology is followed by all the water treatment plants set up (either private / Govt) in this region.

If all this study & research activity looks like a big task, time consuming and difficult to be coordinated, accomplished by the government, but still the Govt want to protect the people of this region from suspected water born kidney diseases, the other better option left to the government is to “ensure safe and sustainable PIPED drinking water supply from surface water sources to provide each household (or at least few connections per village) with a tap connection as it is being done in Telangana state on the name of mission – Bhagiratha”.

ICMR recommends Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19

Reportedly - ICMR recommends hydroxychloroquine for high-risk population as a preventive measure.

the national task force for COVID-19 constituted by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended hydroxy-chloroquine as a preventive medication for high-risk population.

COVID-19 నివారణకు “హైడ్రాక్సీ- క్లోరోక్విన్‌”

ముప్పు ఎక్కువగా ఉన్నవారు వాడొచ్చు

వైరస్‌ సోకే ముప్పు ఎక్కువగా ఉన్నవారిలో నివారణ చర్యల్లో భాగంగా ఈ ఔషధాన్ని ఉపయోగించవచ్చునని పేర్కొంది.

ఎవరికి ఇవ్వొచ్చు?

* కరోనా బాధితులు, అనుమానిత రోగులకు వైద్య సేవలు అందించే సిబ్బందికి కొవిడ్‌ లక్షణాలు లేకపోయినా హైడ్రాక్సీ క్లోరోక్విన్‌ను అందించవచ్చు.

* కరోనా సోకినవారి కుటుంబ సభ్యులకు వ్యాధి లక్షణాలు లేకపోయినా ఇవ్వొచ్చు.

NOTE: * హైడ్రాక్సీ క్లోరోక్విన్‌ను రిజిష్టర్డ్‌ మెడికల్‌ ప్రాక్టీషినర్‌ సూచనల మేరకే తీసుకోవాలి. దుష్ప్రభావాల ముప్పుంటే వాడకూడదు.

మోతాదు ఎంత?

* వైద్య సేవలు అందిస్తున్న సిబ్బంది తొలి రోజు రెండుసార్లు 400 ఎం.జి. వాడాలి. తర్వాత ఏడు వారాలపాటు వారానికి ఒకసారి 400 ఎం.జి. మోతాదులో భోజనంతో కలిపి తీసుకోవాలి.
* కొవిడ్‌-19 రోగులతో కలిసి ఇంట్లో ఉంటున్న కుటుంబ సభ్యులు తొలి రోజు రెండుసార్లు 400 ఎం.జి. తీసుకోవాలి. తర్వాత మూడు వారాలపాటు వారానికి 400 ఎం.జి. ఔషధాన్ని భోజనంతోపాటు తీసుకోవాలి.

To read the complete article published on Eenadu (telugu) daily news paper click here.

Subconjunctival hemorrhage

Last month on 24th Feb2020, in the morning as usual, I was getting ready for office. When I stood in front of the mirror for combing my hair, I saw blood like red patch inside my Left eye.

Till the time I had seen my face in the mirror, I have no symptoms of any kind. It was little shocking and scary for me since it was looking bright red. 

Immediately, I have called the Hospital and spoke to one of the Doctors in team of nephrology dept. I have also sent a pic of my Left Eye through Whatsapp to him for his advice.

after seeing the picture, the doctor advised me to not to worry and said this might be happened due to forceful sneezing, rubbing the eyes while bathing etc. So, don't need to be frightened if it is not causing any pain or any vision changes.

He also explained that the blood in eye due to subconjunctival hemorrhage which will be slowly reabsorbed by the body. Most cases resolve within about seven days without treatment. And when I asked for any medication or Eye drops, he advised nothing as there is no itching or any pain.

Then, as matter of second opinion, I have sent the same pictures to my Company Doctor to know his opinion. He also came with the same kind of explanation however he suggested me to take one medicine i.e. Chymoral Forte (1-Tab twice a day and for 3 days).

afterwards, felt a bit relaxed & lowered the anxiety levels understanding that this wouldn't cause me to run around different hospitals for Dr.consultations, different tests and scanning’s etc.

And then proceeded to office as usual.

A bright red patch appearing in the white of the eye beneath the clear lining of the eye.
A subconjunctival haemorrhage is bleeding underneath the conjunctiva. It can occur after a sudden or severe sneeze or cough, heavy lifting, straining, vomiting or even rubbing one's eyes too roughly. 

10/03/2020

after 2 weeks from the instance, now the redness is completely absorbed, and the eye looks normal.

Stuck in an Elevator, got little nervous and panic- claustrophobia?

Last week Thursday I had an appointment for Doctor consultation so I reached the Hospital about 4pm. It was a bit late and nearing OP closing time so I have been little desperately waiting for the Elevator (LIFT) pressing the UP-arrow button quite a few times but could not see any clue that the LIFT is coming down towards my Ground floor.

But after some time – very much delay than the usual, found to see the down arrow started blinking and so I thought it is on my way.

And then the real Thrilling Horror started...!

There was nobody. It was only me got into the LIFT. As I said before, I was in hurry to rush because the OP will be closed and the Doctor will leave after 4.30pm, I stepped alone into the LIFT and then pressed 3 button as I was supposed to go 3rd floor. 

The doors closed, but lift is not moving...

I tried pressing 3 once again. Nothing happened though. No clear thoughts for what to do? Then I pressed on Door-open button(↔️) expecting at least I can exit out in the same floor. But there is no response.

Few minutes I (me alone) was stuck in the Elevator so started feeling SCARED and "FEAR of some unknown trouble". Almost I started sweating out, with increased heartbeat in that unknown fear - not knowing how to tackle this problem.

Damn!

What to do now?

I never faced such trauma before.

Right... 

"There is always an INDIAN way to solve a difficult problem".

You know what I did?

I hit the LIFT door 2 times at different places... only suspecting some missing contact to any of those limit switches due to the Door not being properly closed and intact.

Haaaaa.... OMG!

The lift started moving towards Up and in a few seconds, I got exit at 3rd floor.

Relaxed… once I got out of the LIFT!

If the lift had not moved for some more time, it could have been turned out dangerous to me. I can’t even guess what the situation could be.

But somehow, I was OUT and okay!

Now, after this incident, I kept thinking of my behavior & response to such situation. How come I became so nervous for those few minutes. Instead I could be there calm with out any kind of tension. But it was not peaceful at all. After having been underwent through such conditions, now it reminds me to doubt about the phycological state of my mind cloud be claustrophobic?

Yes. This can be! Possibly because of living long time on Dialysis, facing very different health problems time to time my anxiety levels maybe easily getting triggered by any stress on my mind even while facing a smaller stressful thing like this also I am becoming nervous and panic.

Also due to some changes in the parameters my Heart function – pumping ability & variations in heart rate etc., can be playing part of the role.

My Nephew's Anna praasanam (మేనల్లుడి కి అన్న ప్రాసనం)

This is the ceremony for the first feeding of cooked rice i.e. giving the child solid food.

It was celebrated on 13/02/2020 at 7.40AM

Few pictures of this function are here below.

                             My Sister& Brother in Law holding their Son(Tara & SrinivasaRao)

My Mother hold the boy

                                                      My Friend P.KrishnaMurthy & Sravanti

                                                             Myself with my nephew