The Cancer Express

Bathinda railway station in Punjab is flooded with cancer patients every night at 9:00 pm. When train number 339 - Passenger Express arrives at the platform, the scene on Platform no. 4 turns grimmer with coolies shouting aloud at hordes of ailing people to board quickly. The dragging crowd of passengers trying to catch the train is of cancer patients and this train in particular has a disturbing and so alarming common name - Cancer Express.

Ill’s itinerary

This train regularly carries 50 to 60 passengers who make overnight journey to Bikaner town in neighboring Rajasthan for the treatment of cancer at Government’s Regional Cancer Center, sometimes for consultation and otherwise for the chemotherapy. Cancer affected patients on the train are usually small farmers from various districts of Punjab, majorly from Faridkot, Ferozpur, Mannsa, Sangrur, Bathinda and Moga.

These agricultural towns are full of families having members grappling with health and cancer problems. According to senior doctors at Medical College of Rajasthan, the figures are bothering and alarming simultaneously. Almost 40 new cancer cases reach them for treatment on a daily basis.

Cancer is considered to be an urban disease and it is mainly suffered by those people who are living in cities and working in chemical industries with pollution abound. According to research and medical studies, farming villages in Punjab have been and continue to use pesticides in fatal amounts. And that’s the reason behind huge number of cancer cases reported from the area.

P + P = CANCER

The Punjab’s overboard mating with pesticide has brooded deadly results amass. The state appears to be obsessed and addicted to excessive usage of fertilizers and chemicals. It all started with the onset of green revolution. On an average, consumption of fertilizers in Punjab is 175 kg per hectare; whereas the national average of fertilizer consumption is 90 kg of fertilizers per hectare.

The innocent and less aware farmers perilously went for the use of fertilizers in fields and started gaining good produce also. Not knowing of the risks involved and importance of aptly controlled dosage, the love for good produce and great gains leaped the boundaries of lust and entered the gates of greed.

Little knowledge of taking proper care of themselves and the improper usage of chemicals exposed both fields and men to polluted environment.

Farmers are now living in an open drain of toxicity; it is a result of unregulated use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The persistent and constantly nonsensical use of pesticides has led to a state where we see chemicals seeping down and mixing in the ground water. Tests conducted on drinking water, that farmers from the area are using, show contamination with high levels of heavy metal toxicity.

The villages in Punjab, on an average, have a population of approximately three thousand to five thousand people and each village has reported at least 40 cancer cases in a period of 3 to 5 years. According to Kheti Virasat Mission (KVM), it is a grim situation that needs special attention from the government.

Cancer occurs at a rate of 70 to 110 per 100,000 in males and 85 to 112 in females. According to surveys of KVM, farmers are more prone to leukemia, lymphoma and other types of cancer. Women are more susceptible to breast and uterine cancer and there are also terrifying reports of premature deliveries to spontaneous abortions, reproductive health crisis and reduced sperm count in males. Children are prone to nitrate pollution that is caused by excessive use of fertilizers.

Promises to promise

While the same Malwa region of Punjab has produced maximum number of CMs for the state, including Parkash Singh Badal and Amarinder Singh, people of the region are bound to take the Cancer Express to travel to Bikaner for affordable cancer treatment.

Jajjal is one of most affected villages of the region accounting for nearly 80 deaths. Even 2011 saw 5 deaths despite steps taken by government, including the provision of RO water in the village. It's hard to believe perhaps but until late last year, when a hospital was built in collaboration with Max, Bikaner - 350km away -- remained the only option for cheap, government-facilitated treatment for the people of Jajjal.

Residents say that Bikaner is still the preferred option because there are not many who can afford to visit a hospital which charges Rs 300 for consultation.

With election season on, the people of the region have been promised (as always) a cancer hospital by most of the candidates but few takers this time.