34 children died in Indian relief camps since September

At least 34 children aged below 12 died in relief camps in India’s Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts between September 7 and December 20, according to a report by a government appointed committee formed on December 13 to verify reports of deaths among children in camps. “Children have died of pneumonia, not of cold,” the principal secretary of Uttar Pradesh state, Anil Gupta, said on Friday while commenting on relief camp deaths. Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lungs, usually caused by bacterial or viral infection, which primarily affects the microscopic air sacs. Noting the commitee’s conclusion that the majority of child deaths had occurred outside relief camps, Gupta said, “about ten to twelve children below the age of fifteen died in the relief camps and four kids succumbed to pneumonia.” Gupta denied that there had been medical negligence on the part of doctors at relief camps as serious cases were referred to Primary Health Care centers (PHCs) and district hospitals. Initially the state government had denied outright any deaths at Muzaffarnagar camps, even submitting an affidavit before the Supreme Court with similar claims. The Hindu-Muslim clashes in northern Indian state Uttar Pradesh which broke out on September 7 claimed 65 lives. It left 85 others wounded and rendered 51,000 people, mostly Muslims, homeless. Nearly 5,000 people are still holed up at five relief camps in the Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts, with almost 2,000 in Loi relief camp alone. Around 2,000 others are in Malakpur.