Heavy metal content in water caused mysterious disease in AP
Eluru, Dec 8: Lead and nickel content in drinking water and milk was primarily established as the root cause of the mysterious disease in Eluru city of Andhra Pradesh, which so far claimed one life and left over 500 people sick.
Based on the preliminary findings of the expert teams from AIIMS and other state and central institutions, health officials presented a report to Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy here on Tuesday.
A CMO release said lead and nickel were found to be the causative agents for the mysterious disease, citing a report prepared by the AIIMS experts.
The disease saw people suddenly falling unconscious after suffering from fits and nausea since Saturday night.
The symptoms, according to GGH doctors, included a bout of epilepsy for 3-5 minutes, memory loss for a few minutes, anxiety, vomiting, headache and back pain.
"More tests are being conducted by Indian Institute of Chemical Technology and other institutes and the results are expected soon.
The Chief Minister directed the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation on the heavy metal content in the patients' bodies and constantly monitor the treatment process," the CMO release added.
According to the health authorities here, of the 505 persons infected, over 370 had recovered and another 120 were being treated in the hospital.
Another 19 people were sent for better medicare to government hospitals in Vijayawada and Guntur.
Apart from experts deployed by the World Health Organisation, a three-member team drafted by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare arrived in Eluru on Tuesday and went round the affected areas to collect samples.
Deputy Chief Minister (Health) A K K Srinivas said the affected people were recovering well and there was no need to panic.
"Full details as to what triggered the mysterious disease will be known only after the central agencies submit their reports. Primarily, lead has been found to be the cause of the outbreak," he said.
A special sanitation drive was undertaken in Eluru city and also in the adjoining rural pockets and Denduluru from where the cases were reported.
Srinivas, who represents Eluru, went round the localities on Tuesday and inspected the overhead drinking water reservoirs and supervised the sanitation drive.
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SC to hear on May 4 PIL seeking stringent guidelines for issuing Aadhaar to adolescents, adults
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea seeking a direction to the Unique Identification Authority of India to issue new Aadhaar cards only to citizens up to the age of six years, and frame stringent guidelines for its issuance to adolescents and adults to stop infiltrators from masquerading as Indian citizens.
As per the apex court's causelist of May 4, the plea would come up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay has also sought a direction to the authorities to install display boards at common service centres stating that the 12-digit unique identification number is only a "proof of identity" and not a proof of citizenship, address or date of birth.
Besides all the states and Union Territories, the plea has made the UIDAI -- which is the authority that issues Aadhaar -- and the Union ministries of home, law and justice, and electronics and information technology as parties.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, said Aadhaar, originally intended as a proof of identity, has increasingly become a "foundational document" enabling individuals to obtain other identification documents, such as ration cards, domicile certificates and voter identity cards.
"The UIDAI has issued 144 crore Aadhaar and 99 percent Indians have been enrolled. Therefore, the petitioner is filing this writ petition as a PIL under Article 32, seeking a direction to UIDAI to issue new Aadhaar to children only and frame new stringent guidelines for adolescents and adults, so as to stop infiltrators from getting it and masquerading as Indian citizens," the plea said.
It said the need to file the plea arose when the petitioner came to know the manner in which infiltrators are able to procure Aadhaar through a verification process that is weak and can be easily manipulated.
"Foreigners apply for Aadhaar under the 'foreign' category. But infiltrators apply for Aadhaar under the 'Indian citizen' category and get it easily made. Thereafter, they obtain a ration card, birth and domicile certificate, driving licence, et cetera, essentially becoming indistinguishable from Indian citizens…," it said.
Besides seeking other directions, the plea has raised legal questions, including whether the Aadhaar Act 2016 has become "temporally unreasonable" for failing to keep up with the legislative intent of distinguishing foreigners from Indian citizens.
It said the alleged misuse of Aadhaar undermines targeted welfare delivery and leads to diversion of public resources.
