64-year-old asthma patient, a resident of South Mumbai, who had to take regular doses through a nebuliser was unable to use the device due to load shedding yesterday
Piroj Wadia
Senior citizens in parts of South Bombay were hit hard by the power failure, which caused many of them to panic as they couldn’t take their medicines. At Shapoor Baugh in Grant Road (East), many depend on instruments running on electricity to take their medication, and missed dosages because of a six-and-a-half-hour power cut.
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Piroj Wadia, a resident of Shapoor Baugh in Grant Road (East), suffers from asthma and has been using a nebuliser for the past eight years to get five doses of medication a day. (The picture is blurred on request) Pic/Emmanual Karbhari
Piroj Wadia, 64, a resident of the area, is an asthma patient and has to take regular doses through a nebuliser. Wadia has to take five doses a day and has to use the nebuliser for 15 minutes for each dosage. The nebuliser runs on electricity and the power cut yesterday ensured that Wadia couldn’t use it. She took one early morning dose around 7.30 am and when she was about to take the second dose around 10 am, she found that the power was gone. The power cut stayed for about six-and-a-half hours, due to which she missed out on two doses.
By afternoon, Wadia, who has been using the nebuliser for the past eight years, was gasping for breath. “Because of change of weather, I was already suffering from chest congestion and, at such times, it is compulsory for me to use the nebuliser. When we called the BEST helpline number, the phone seemed to be off the hook and they would not even tell us when the power would be back so we could look for an alternative.”
Rhoda Udvadia (70), another senior citizen, said the power cut caused trouble to her too, “We had to keep our torches beside us to avoid tripping while walking around the house, since it was pitch dark.”
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