Diwali Hoopla Goes Wrong As 12 Lose Vision For Firecracker Burst In Kota

Over 50 people with burn injuries from the bursting of firecrackers including pierced glass and steel particles turned up for treatment at several hospitals.

Kota: Diwali is also known as the festival of light. But for some people, it turned darker as 12 lost their eyesight while over 50 reported injuries in their eyes in the Kota division of Rajasthan. The MBS Hospital treated the most number of ophthalmic injury cases where 20 people turned up seeking care.

Dr Ashok Meena, head of the ophthalmology department at MBS, said about 24 patients have suffered eye problems in the last three to four days due to the bursting of crackers. All of them sought consultations at the hospital with normal to severe injuries. Most of the patients are in the age bracket of 10 to 22. Four of them lost their vision due to serious injuries and it depended on the progress of recovery whether they would regain their eyesight or not.

Dr Meena said most of the patients were being treated by prescribing medicines. A piece of glass pierced into the eye of a patient due to the bursting of firecrackers (rockets), leading to the bursting out of the eyeball and a cut in the eyelids. He had to go under the knife to remove the foreign particles but his vision could not be retrieved. One patient came with serious burn injuries on the face.

Dr Suresh Pandey, director of Suvi Eye Hospital, said about 12 patients had come to the hospital with various types of eye injuries due to firecrackers. These include cases of injury to the cornea or transparent pupil, bleeding in the eyes, burning of eyelids, firecracker ash sticking to the eyelids or cornea and infection in the eyes. Apart from this, a 23-year-old from Baran developed a cataract due to the particles of firecracker entering his eye. Similarly, a 12-year-old girl sustained injuries in the eyes while burning firecrackers, due to which she also developed a cataract and lost vision. In such a situation, an operation was to be performed after a month to implant an artificial lens.

In Sangod, an 18-year-old sustained serious injuries when the shattered pieces of a steel pot in which he was bursting crackers pierced his shoulder and some parts of his torso. He had to go under the knife to remove these particles.