Street food causing illness, deaths

Adivasis buying roadside food items at Jainoor in Adilabad district

Street food has become a cause for concern as far as Adivasi's deaths are concerned in the district.

Adivasis have been falling sick after eating roadside food or prepared in unhygienic conditions and with spurious ingredients. 

Food poisoning and jaundice deaths are on the rise in the tribal areas especially during a rainy season in the district.

There are no checks by the food inspectors on food items sold at hotels and roadside, mutton and chicken markets and spurious edible oils sell by the businesspersons in the agency areas.

It is open secret that shop owners sell adulterated edible oils in the agency areas and Narnoor, Sirpur (U), Jainoor ,  Kerameri, Indravelli, Utnoor , Asifabad, Wankidi and most of the gullible Adivasis purchase these adulterated oils without knowing the implication and their impact on their health.

Even, today shop owners sell loose edible oil in the agency areas on which a ban was imposed by the government.

Medical experts say that most of the Adivasis fall sick after eating the street food  in the monsoon e eating road food their favorites being bajji, khara mixture, Jilebi. Little attention is paid to the cooking methods, surroundings or ingredients.

There are strong allegations that food inspectors take bribes from the owners of these hotels and also roadside vendors and turn blind eye to the effects of the food items.

Adivasis buy these food items on the weekly shandies and parents eat these items at hotels and take them to their children. Students studying in Ashram schools are  also falling sick after eating  street food.

According to official sources, two deaths took place due to fever with jaundice and three deaths are due to food poisoning in tribal areas in 2016.

Additional DMHO (Agency) T. Prabhakar Reddy said food poisoning cases are increasing in the tribal areas and tribal should avoid eating street food, especially during the rainy season.

Marriages being conducted with muddy water

newly married Kolam Adivasi couple participating in rituals 

People in interior areas are celebrating marriages, using muddy water as they are depending on streams and rivulets for their needs.

Most borewells have dried up and minor drinking water schemes have gone defunct due to damages.

Some Adivasis were struggling to collect drinking water a month before a marriage in their family. 

Now there is every possibility of an outbreak of water-borne  diseases if the forced to drink polluted water and cook with it, which could also lead to food poisoning. Such incidents took place last summer in Utnoor and Bela mandals in the district.

The RWS and gram panchayats have failed to supply bleaching powder to be mixed in open and agriculture wells nor has the medical and health department supplied chlorine tablet to purify polluted water prior to drinking.        

The marriage of Sidam Laxmibai and Atram Shankar was recently celebrated, the families going arduous lengths to procure potable water in Kakarboddi village in Sirpur(U) mandal.

Community elder of Kakarboddi Tekam Jashwanth worried about collecting water for various purposes , what with three marriages scheduled this month. 

He said that  the villagers were busy, collecting water from various drinking sources for the occasion. Some of them even being forced to drink polluted water at marriages.   

Atram Laxmibai of Kolam Kommuguda said that “the Kolams were a particularly vulnerable tribal group (PTG) and their living conditions were pathetic and opined that officials must take special care for their welfare”.

Food poisoning on the rise in Adilabad district