‘Mirchi bombs’ account for bulk of Deepavali eye injuries at Hyderabad’s Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital

HYDERABAD

Over the last three days of Deepavali celebrations, State government-run Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital in Hyderabad has treated 54 patients with eye injuries caused by firecrackers. Most of the injuries were due to the high-decibel mirchi bombs. Hospital Superintendent Modini Pandharpurkar said that nearly 80% of all cases were linked to these specific firecrackers, which continue to cause the most serious ocular injuries during the festival.

“Since the last three days, we have had a total of 54 people coming to the hospital with eye injuries. Out of these, 23 cases are of a serious nature where vision has been affected. Of those 23, four have been admitted, and three are being taken up for surgery. Two of them are in a serious condition and we cannot say at this stage if their vision will recover. One of the two is a child and the other is an adult,” Dr. Pandharpurkar said

She added that the remaining 19 patients with vision-related complications were treated on an outpatient basis and have been asked to return for follow-up over the coming week. “We will know how they progress depending on the type and extent of their injury,” she said.

The superintendent pointed out that most of the injured were from Hyderabad and surrounding districts, though more patients could still arrive in the day. “We usually get stragglers the day after or even two days later. Some people burst crackers late into the night, so we expect a few more cases ,” she said.

Of the total cases recorded so far, 39 were adults and 15 were children. The age group of 18 to 45 years accounted for the maximum number of injuries. “That is the group that tends to be more adventurous and experimental with bursting crackers,” Dr. Pandharpurkar observed.

According to her, the mirchi bomb accounted for over 70% of all injuries. “The rest were due to sutli bombs, Lakshmi bombs, and double sound bombs. There were one or two cases involving double sound crackers and just two cases caused by defective flower pots. Interestingly, not a single injury was caused by rockets this time, which shows that people may have taken proper safety precautions for those. We hope next year they will take the same precautions for bombs as well,” she said.

Dr. Pandharpurkar explained that different types of eye injuries are being seen among the patients, injuries to the eyelid, cornea, and retina. “Each patient is directed to the OPD concerned where specialists for that part of the eye are available. We have a dedicated ward where such patients are admitted. She added that the hospital has separate beds for male and female patients in each ward, as they cannot be admitted together.

Dr. Pandharpurkar also said the hospital’s medical team was strengthened in anticipation of the festival rush. “Normally, we have four doctors on duty, but during this period we increased it to six. We also have specialists available on call for specific cases. Even though it is a festival, our team ensures that someone is always available for patients,” she said.