Kidney problems dog half of Yapadinne

​Mahbubnagar: About half the people living in Yaapadinne village of Ija mandal in Jogulamaba Gadwal district are suffering from debilitating health problems related to kidney ailments, most of which surfaced in just the past three years. The tiny village, with about 150-200 residents, is located on the banks of the Tungabhadra River.

During the past two years, more than 20 people of the village have died due to kidney failure. About 60 people are bed-ridden with advanced renal problems.

Every day someone or the other from the village visits nearby Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh to get dialysis done. Majority of the families of these kidney patients are debt- ridden and some of them have even sold their lands and other properties to pay for the high costs of treatment.

According to Sharada, a kidney patient and MPTC member from Yapadinne village, the renal problems have surfaced only in the past three years. Almost half the population of the village is affected by kidney ailments. “I have been facing this kidney problem for the past two years.

I have to go to Kurnool every week for dialysis. There are more than 60 people like me in the village who are facing the same problem. Those who are economically well-off are approaching private hospitals, while those who are financially weak are bed-ridden, just waiting for their turn to die,” said Sharada.

The kidney ailments in the village can be attributed to the presence of harmful chemicals, fluoride and heavy salts in the ground water, according to healthcare experts.

They say that if the concentration of fluoride is more in water; when consumed, it gets deposited in the kidney during the blood filtering process and later these deposits get precipitated and form into stones, destroying the nephron cells.

Ultimately, the kidney stops functioning. Nalgonda district is notorious for long-neglected fluoride problem that has affected many people in rural areas, leaving them paralysed or with joint pains and bone problems.

What beats the authorities is that the problem in Yapadinne village is somewhat different, considering the fluoride in water has been impacting mainly kidneys.

Although the State government has been making tall claims about providing pure drinking water to every household, the villagers of Yapadinne have always been depending on ground water for their drinking purpose. As the ground water is known to have a high level of fluoride, it has been negatively impacting overall health of people in the entire village.

Narasihma, a farmer from another village near Yapadinne, said he too had been suffering from kidney failure. He got operated, but continued to face problems in carrying out his farming activities. “I had to sell my one-acre land to meet the expenses of kidney operation.

I incurred an expenditure of more than Rs 1 lakh and today my economic condition has deteriorated as I am not able to do work as effectively as I used to do earlier,” said Narasihma.

Although the people of the village have brought the problem to the notice of some leaders and officials, till date no one has come forward to help them in any manner.

The villagers told The Hans India that the State government must immediately provide relief and save their lives. Otherwise, they would all just die without any help; considering that already economic productivity of almost all the families has fallen drastically.