Happy sight: Diwali begins on bright note

Bangalore: The male and female adult wards of Minto Eye Hospital are empty, a sign that this festive season has been relatively safe. Going by the number of cases reported during the first two days of Diwali, there seems to be a notable decline in the number of eye injuries this year, say hospitals.
As on Thursday, Minto Hospital saw three cases, all kids. “Last year, we saw 60 patients during Diwali.This year, probably due to the decline in sale of crackers, the numbers have declined. There is also greater awareness among people. Over the years, we noticed that bystanders bore the brunt of cracker-related injuries. We feel extremely sad when patients lose eyesight for no fault of theirs,” says Dr Krishna Prasad AH, resident medical officer (RMO), Minto Eye Hospital.
On Thursday, the hospital saw two OPD cases. A 28-year-old man from Chamarajpet complained of internal bleeding in the eyes following a cracker burst. Another was a seven-year-old girl from Chikka Banavar near Tumkur Road who suffered corneal damage on her left eye.
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Shivamani, 9, was the first patient to have walked into this hospital this Diwali. The boy, from Srinivasapura, a village near Kolar, sustained eye injuries 15 days ago; he lost vision in his right eye following a cracker burst. On Wednesday, he was discharged.
Shaheed Pasha, 9, living near Mysore Road, didn’t celebrate Diwali at home. But the boy was keen on bursting crackers. It was only when he came home crying and complained of pain in his eyes that his parents Naseema and Akmal Pasha realized their son bought the crackers himself. Shaheed was brought to the hospital on Tuesday and is currently undergoing treatment.
Chandru V, 12, suffered an eye injury for no fault of his own. A resident of Hegde Nagar, Chandru’s mother Meenakshi Selvaraj had sent him to buy groceries at 5pm Wednesday. The boy was hit by a burning cracker near his house. He suffered internal bleeding in his left eye and is under observation now.
When TOI checked with hospitals like Narayana Nethralaya and Nethradhama, which have dedicated helplines for eye injuries during Diwali, no cases were reported as on Thursday evening. “Surprisingly, this year we haven’t come across any case of eye injury. It’s probably because of the wet weather; it could also be due to increased awareness,” said Dr Arun Samprati, a city-based ophthalmologist.