Health

Waris Fayaz

Sopore, Nov 09 : An acute shortage of hoopers has affected the smooth sanitation process in Sopore town as the Municipal Council (MC) Sopore has only seven hoopers for 21 wards.

With the shortage of hoppers, the people have said that the heaps of garbage could be seen piling up in the town, causing immense hardships to them.

Sources told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the MC Sopore is facing shortage of the hoopers, adding that for 21 wards; the council has only 6 hoopers.

They said that there were only five hoopers while in the month of April this year; two more hoopers were procured, taking the number of hoopers to seven.

President of Municipal Council, Musarat Kar told KNO that out of seven hoopers, six are functioning properly while a driver of one of the hoopers is on leave at present due to some medical emergencies. She, however, blamed people for not using the dustbins properly.

Meanwhile, the people here have accused the MC Sopore of ignoring their plights, saying that as the concerned authorities are throwing garbage at many spots, emanating foul smell from it.

Imtiyaz Ahmad, one of the residents, said that the foul smell emanating from the garbage is also a threat to the health of the people. “We are not even able to walk through the area because of the foul smell,” Ahmed said.

Meanwhile, Director ULB Kashmir, Mathoora Masoom told KNO that she is aware about the fact that the town is lacking hoopers.

However, she said that by the end of November, the MC Sopore would get 5-6 more hoopers, which will bring respite to the people, living in the town—(KNO)

Srinagar, Nov 08 : As winter has almost set in pushing people across Kashmir to buy heating gadgets including gas heaters etc, the leading medicos in the Valley on Wednesday said the use of gas heaters during winters can prove as “silent killers” if proper cautions aren’t taken.

The doctors urged people to ensure proper ventilation in rooms and not to use gas heaters in bedrooms. Talking to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Kashmir’s leading medico at Government Medical College (GMC) College Srinagar, Dr Nisar ul Hassan said that the heaters emit combustion products like carbon monoxide and once it reaches a particular level inside a room, a person gets “carbon monoxide poisoning”.

Hassan said the best way to prevent deaths due to unvented gas heaters is to discontinue their use and instead, use vented gas heaters. “Heaters with fixed chimneys can be used during winters,” he said.

Dr Nisar said that if people continue using unvented gas heaters, they should not use them in bedrooms, bathrooms or in any enclosed spaces. These heaters should only be used in rooms with adequate ventilation,” he said.

Hassan said unvented gas heaters should not be used for more than four hours per day, since it is meant to supplement other heating methods rather than providing the main heating source.

“These heaters are commonly used during winters to keep rooms warm particularly at night. It has no chimney to vent the combustion products like carbon monoxide outside the home, as a result, this toxic pollutant remains in the room and exposure to high levels of this toxic causes death,” he said.

“Carbon monoxide is a silent killer as you can’t see it, you can’t smell it and you can’t taste it. The individual is rendered completely helpless without feeling the harm thus becoming unconscious during sleep leading to death,” Dr Nisar said, adding that when carbon monoxide is inhaled by a person when he or she falls asleep, it direct goes into the lungs, mixes with the blood and can either cause a heart attack or a brain stroke which ultimately leads to the death of the person silently.

Dr Nisar said people who are particularly vulnerable to carbon monoxide poisoning, including children, elderly, pregnant women and those with chronic medical conditions.

Head of the Department Chest Diseases hospital Srinagar, Dr Naveed Nazir told KNO that during winter, respiratory tract infections shows an upward trend. “People use polythene on windows and doors to maintain temperature but they forget to keep the ventilation with the result harmful gasses remain in the room. In the past we have seen many deaths caused by the consumption of carbon monoxide,” he said. “People can use gadgets like gas heaters but there has to be proper ventilation. Without ventilation in the room, use of gas heaters can prove harmful.”

Dr Naveed urged people to buy gas heaters that are certified by the regulatory authority. “Focus has to be on proper ventilation so that people remain safe during winters,” he said—(KNO)

Sopore, Nov 01 : An ambulance driver of sub district hospital Sopore was injured after an ambulance he was driving met with an accident at Hygam area of Sopore in Baramulla district on Tuesday evening.

An official told, that an ambulance of Sub district hospital Sopore had a head on collision with tipper, resulting in injuries to an ambulance driver.

Soon after the incident, the injured was shifted to a nearby health facility for the necessary treatment, he said. “The condition of the injured is stated to be stable”, official added.

Meanwhile, police took the cognizance of this incident and further investigation taken up.

Uri, Oct 12 : The samples of two suspected Monkeypox cases from Uri area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district have turned negative, officials said here on Wednesday.

Block medical officer Boniyar Dr Parvaiz Masoodi told the news agency, that samples of two persons that were sent to SKIMS Microbiology lab for screening have returned negative for monkeypox.

Earlier, he had said that eight suspected monkeypox cases have been reported in Uri, however, CMO Baramulla denied the same and said that there was no need to panic—(KNO)

Waris Fayaz

Baramulla, Oct 11 : Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Baramulla, Dr Bashir Ahmed Malik on Tuesday said that there is no need to panic as the reports about spread of Monkeypox are false.

The CMO told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the samples taken from the suspected patients who seem to have been infected with Monkeypox disease are clinically chickenpox and the reports of which are expected within two days positively.

He said the teams from the centre as well as from the directorate visited Uri on Monday where suspected cases of monkeypox were reported.

“To be on the safer side, we took two samples and clinically it is said to be Chickenpox. Earlier in Baramulla’s Pattan the same reports were doing rounds but that too came out to be Chickenpox,” Malik said.

Preventive measures have already been taken for the safety of people in border villages and instructions have been given to all schools to follow health guidelines for precautionary measures.

A day ago, BMO Boniyar Dr Parvaiz Masoodi said that eight suspected cases of monkeypox were reported, saying samples of two people with severity have been sent for screening—(KNO)