Hyderabad: Festival of Lights brings darkness to careless city revellers

Hyderabad: The festival of lights, Diwali which was celebrated with zeal on Sunday brought cheers to many families and turned dark for some in the twin cities. Several children and adults sustained eye injuries during burning firecrackers on the occasion and were rushed to State-run Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital in Mehdipatnam. Five-year-old D Akhil, from IDPL Colony near Balanagar, preferred his mother Vijaya's lap over the hospital bed after undergoing surgery to his left eye.

His mother narrating what happened on Sunday night said that at about 8:30 pm children in the locality were burning firecrackers during which he sustained eye injury. His mother said she immediately rushed the child to the hospital. Like Akhil, two other children identified as Mohammed Ahmed (10), of Moghalpura in Old City, and Ravi Teja (12), a resident of Nelakondapally in Khammam district were undergoing treatment. Ahmed sustained left eye injury when he tried to light an unexploded firecracker in his hands. The cracker exploded in his hand injuring his left eye due to which the doctors made two stitches and put him under observation.

Even Ravi Teja sustained left eye injury. The 12-year-old was on his way home after playing with his friends and did not notice some locals lighting up crackers and hence, he sustained injures. His mother Lakshmi brought him to the hospital on Monday morning and doctors performed eye operation. Negligence while bursting firecrackers took a toll on children who were staring at darkness and lack of vision.

Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital Superintendent Dr V Rajalingam told The Hans India that the sight of these three children who were operated will be known after two days of observation after getting clarity on the percentage of damage occurred to the retina. He said till Monday afternoon 58 outpatients received treatment in the hospital and nine were admitted as inpatients. Three children got surgeries and another six patients were under observation and further investigations are being carried out. The Superintendent added that they would need one week to fully recover from the eye injuries.

He said due to awareness on burning firecrackers this year, the eye injury cases were less compared to last year. In 2018 around 80 out-patient cases were reported and 12 admitted as inpatients in which one patient lost his sight. On the other hand, 31 out-patient cases of eye injuries were reported in LV Prasad Eye Institute till Monday afternoon. Of them four underwent surgeries while others were undergoing treatment. Eight of them were children while six of the admitted patients were women.