ucanews.com reporter in Bangalore
Updated: August 23, 2010 10:01 AM GMTChurch people in Karnataka have blamed poor management for a spate of food poisonings in a state-run rehab home that has killed 26 residents in one week. The Karnataka State Rehabilitation Centre in Bangalore, popularly called the “beggars’ colony,” began reporting the deaths on Aug. 15. The state Social Welfare department runs the center through a Central Relief Committee. The center’s doctor G. Harimurthy said the victims died from acute diarrhea, caused by gastroenteritis. The center is “overcrowded, said Catholic Sister Mary Mascarenhas, who worked at the center for 20 years until 1996. “Some 2,000 beggars live in a facility meant for 900,” she told ucanews.com following the deaths of three more people on Aug. 21. The nun, a member of St. Joseph of Tarbes congregation said she worked at the center as a member of the Local Relief Committee. She said the Church was later denied permission to serve the center after the formation of a new committee. Several Religious congregations in Bangalore had sent their novices to work at the center, “where hundreds live amid unhygienic conditions,” she said. The center is in a bad state and was in much better condition when Church people were involved, said Claretian Father George Kannanthanam, who manages, a nearby leprosy Rehabilitation centre. Several media reports quote residents as saying that they are severely malnourished and have low immunity levels. Hence minor food poisoning or other infections can become life-threatening, the reports said. Related reports Laypeople Open Homes To Homeless As ´Friends Of The Birds Of The Air´ Former Street Youths, Aided By Church-run NGO, Now Help Support Poor Students IB10923.1616