At a back-of-beyond village, the dreaded encephalitis is being fought and defeated in a unique way — by treating water with sunlight. Biswajeet Banerjee tells you more
Amid the din of death, one non-descript village in Kushinagar district in eastern Uttar Pradesh stands tall in showing the world how to fight encephalitis. The success story etched out in Holiya has made scientists and doctors look towards this small village where the death rate has gone down suddenly because the villagers use water that has been disinfected through sun rays.
The mantra of the village is simple. Drinking water is taken from a 100-metre deep tubewell and further purified by exposing it to sunlight.
“The Acquired Encephalitis Syndrome spreads through contaminated water. People in villages defecate in the open. The faeces and urine seeps into the ground and contaminates the water source. The crisis deepens during monsoon. So, we ensured that people use water which is properly disinfected through UV rays and it has done wonders,” Dr RN Singh, convener, Encephalitis Eradication Movement, says.
“The principle is simple. The entro-virus present in water is killed by the sun’s UV rays. We are lucky to be living in a country that is showered with sunlight. We use the sun to our benefit,” Dr Singh tells you.
It was three years back when Singh adopted Holiya. Villagers were asked to store drinking water in pet bottles and keep it under tin shade painted in black for 6-8 hours. This water is pure and safe. In 2010, 13 people died of encephalitis in Holiya, but the figure fell to just two in 2011 and 2012 and not a single case reported till now in 2013.
This ingenious method finds approval from other doctors too. “The Holiya experiment is a success. Disinfecting water through sun rays is scientifically proven and it is even approved by WHO,” Dr KP Kushwaha, principal, BRD Medical College, says.
Even Health Minister Gulam Nabi Azad was impressed by the Holiya model and promised it to implement it at the village-level. “If it is done, it will be a great success,” Singh says.