the bloody flux

dysentery is a major issue of public health. it looks pretty, but its not.


basically spread by contaminated water, bacteria and amoebae enter the body and take up residence in the intestines. this causes a variety of unpleasant symptoms, the most critical being the resulting dehydration and nutrient deficiency that comes from not being able to retain food. this can be fatal, especially in children. in its less advanced and less severe states, its still not fun. headaches, confusion, stomach pain, the runs, on and off. the amoebae can take up residence in your gut, and although there may be no overt symptoms, its hard to be 100% well.

'a clean body cannot reside in an unclean city' - mk gandhi

so what to do? i dont really like the idea of dysentery, or amoebas in general, and its something id like to avoid in the future. however for some reason i seem to be a good host, and its been back in typical form for the last couple of weeks. beyond that though, its popularity here is evidence to a link between public health and urban development.

mumbai is not the dirtiest place i have ever been to, but its not the cleanest either. surface sanitation is one thing, but the problem with chronic conditions like contaminated water lie in the systems that set up the framework for life here. drinking water supply, ground water run-off, and sewer combine on a regular basis through overlapped networks and breaches in their respective boundaries. add to that an informal system of gathering, cleaning and eliminating, and probability for infection increases exponentially. mumbai has a combined ground water and sewer system, meaning that what drains off the streets, gets mixed with sewage, on its way to disposal. this also means that in times of severe rainfall (monsoon) this system overloads, and backs up, back to the streets. (this also happens in washington dc and boston, minus the monsoon). proper drainage systems, and separate sewage routing would decrease the level of contaminated groundwater, which would be a good start to avoiding the contamination of drinking water. as the drinking water supply is channeled into the city via pipelines and tanker trucks, it frequently comes into contact with the other system, of groundwater and sewage. sometimes by proximity, mostly by breaks (either leaks or informal taps) in the security of its containment. once things are combined, its hard to separate.

mumbai obviously cannot redesign an infrastructure over 100 yrs old, but there may be ways to remediate the system. concentrating on developing proper drainage for the most densely developed areas would help alleviate the pressure on the stormwater system. increasing safe public toilet facilities would help with the problem of informal sewers. ensuring that drinking water pipelines remain intact would reduce the probability of contamination. rainwater recycling could charge the toilet systems. requiring that new buildings have an adequate percentage of pervious open space might help absorb more run-off. constructing restorative landscapes in the large tracts of undeveloped land and turning them into park spaces may foster a sense of environmental stewardship.
sigh. this is all very simple, and not very realistic, when put into the context of how the city actually functions. so maybe there is a way to scale back, make the changes or modifications smaller, in the spirit of how most shortcomings are compensated for here.

im not sure, but its on my mind. in the meantime, i need to find some meds.


and make sure im drinking the good stuff.



* amoebic image from wikipedia.
* and despite the name, this is recommended for hangovers, and probably hard to find outside of stuttgart.
* is there a 75% less? its still better than any diet i know.