Kidney disease claims six lives in Krishna district

In a mysterious kidney disease prevailing in Veerullapadu mandal of Krishna district, another life has been lost. A 60-year-old farm labourer from Jujjuru village of the mandal, Mangalagiri Appa Rao died of kidney failure on Saturday night while undergoing treatment at Vijayawada government general hospital.

According to the family members, the man had been suffering from the kidney ailment for the past few years. However, in the past one year, the mandal has witnessed six persons succumbing to death due to kidney failure.

Another person, Chenchu Narayanamurthy, who has been suffering from kidney ailment for some years now, revealed that there was no dialysis centre nearby and have to travel at least for an hour to reach Vijayawada for any emergency.

Meanwhile, Appa Rao’s son, Mangalagiri Jeevan Kumar said that they spend around Rs 5 lakh on his father’s treatment in the last four years but added that the Jujjuru village has been dealing with a major drinking water contamination issue.

Sources also claim that liquor addiction is one of the main reasons behind the rise of kidney ailments with the outlets in the nearby hills selling rectified spirits attracting a lot of farm labourers as it comes cheap.

Villages such as Rangapuram, Alluru and Chattannavaram under Veerullapadu mandal have also seen a rise of kidney-related ailments and the villagers have requested the government to set up a dialysis centre in Nandigama town to help the farming community get timely treatment.

Officials, on the other hand, stated that kidney ailments are commonly caused due to high intake of salt and addiction to liquor, in several cases.