Mapping Cholera Vulnerability in Delhi: An Ecosocial Perspective

Abstract

In the city-state of Delhi, the decade of the 1990s was marked by large scale in-migration, growth of industries, proliferation of slums and unauthorised colonies, shortage of water and electricity and pollution of air and water. Simultaneously, there has been a marked rising trend in cholera, particularly among migrant population. This paper examines the epidemiological situation of cholera in Delhi through the 1990s when large scale public health measures were put into operation following a major cholera epidemic in 1988. The vulnerable zones within Delhi have been mapped in detail and the epidemiological complexities identified in this paper. While some problems are technological, others are administrative and managerial. Inadequacies of safe water supplies in vulnerable colonies, sources of potential contamination and the community's reliance on alternative sources (much of which is contaminated groundwater) emerge as critical issues. Some areas with deep tubewell (municipal) water supply emerged as cholera foci since chlorinators were not operated properly by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). Other endemic belts were located either close to sanitary landfill sites or the river Yamuna, where in the absence of piped supplies communities accessed highly contaminated groundwater. However, marked decline in cholera has also been demonstrated in socio-economically disadvantaged areas with reasonable quantities of piped supply by the DJB.