IOC depot fire abating, health of residents affected

Jaipur, Nov 4 : A massive fire at the Indian Oil Corporation's (IOC) depot in Sitapura near here abated somewhat Wednesday, six days after it broke out, but many residents from nearby areas are complaining of respiratory, eye and skin problems.

Black smoke can be seen over a stretch of two to three kilometres in Sitapur, 20 km from the Rajasthan capital. Only two oil tanks - of the 11 that caught fire Oct 29 resulting in 11 deaths and injuries to over 150 - are still ablaze.

"My eyes are itching. I am having breathing problems too," Rajesh Bhardwaj, a resident living two kilometres away from the oil depot, told IANS Wednesday.

Doctors at the government-run SMS Hospital here, while refusing to be named, say there is always a danger of the smoke affecting the health of people living near the site.

"The cases coming to us from these colonies mainly relate to problems in the eye, skin and respiration," a doctor said.

They are advising pregnant women to stay far away from the polluted area. "It is better if these women stay away from the polluted area as it can affect the child in the womb," a doctor said.

In the nearby villages of Sitarampuria and Sukhpuria, cases of fever and vomiting are being reported among children.

"My child is vomiting for the last three days�.He also has a high temperature and is complaining of irritation in the eyes, this must be solely because of the fire," Sugna, mother of two-year-old Anju, said.

"We have deputed eight mobile health teams in areas near the fire site. We have also asked them to visit the areas where smoke has spread in the last couple of days," an official of the state medical and health department said.

Officials said on Tuesday around 14 people with respiratory problems, 25 with irritation in the eyes and another 22 with skin allergies had visit these mobile vans.

The SMS Medical College has also formed a five-member committee of specialised doctors to evaluate the immediate and long term impact of the fire incident on the health of people living in nearby colonies.

Meanwhile, the relatives of a man, Y.D. Sharma, who died Monday evening at SMS Hospital claimed breathing problems caused by the smoke triggered the death even though an autopsy has said he suffered a heart attack. He used to work in a local education institute near the depot.

"He was a healthy person and started to feel uneasy after the fire incident. We suspect that he died due to pollution caused by the fire," said H.N. Sharma, a relative.

About the autopsy that cited heart attack as the cause of death, H.N. Sharma said: "I do not believe it�even the cause of heart attack must be suffocation," he added.

The fire at the IOC depot has been widely blamed on human negligence.