Sunday Island Editorial

Coping with CKDu

18th October 2015

Mr. Ranjit Mulleriyawa’s byline would be familiar to readers of this newspaper and others because of his relentless campaign to persuade decision and policy makers to adopt the strategy of harvesting rainwater in dry zone areas where chronic kidney disease is endemic to ensure that farmers, already diseased or at risk of infection, are assured of safe water for drinking and cooking purposes. As this writer in an article we run in today’s issue rightly says, the talk has been endless but there has been very little action in a period of over two decades. Who can blame him for his assertion that "to many, CKDu seems to be a mere academic exercise to be discussed and debated and no more until publication of the next research paper or symposium." He has made the telling point that many researchers of this subject "fail to capture the depth of human suffering" this terrible disease has caused.

 

Our President today is a man from Polonnaruwa, descended from colonist stock. President Sirisena has long been health minister and is very familiar with CKDu and the misery it causes. His support for protecting a community that has been his constituency during his long political career as MP for Polonnaruwa is obviously assured. It is essential therefore that his commitment for the wellbeing of the people whose votes have propelled him to the highest office in the land must be harnessed to maximum advantage in dealing with a problem that must concern all Lankans as it deeply affects the peasant farmers who produce the rice all of us eat. There seems to be scientific agreement that the disease is a result of chemical pollution of groundwater. But exactly what toxic substance is the culprit has not been firmly established. Whether the cause is an absolute certainly or not, there is no dispute that those at risk would be protected by the provision of potable rainwater harvested from roof catchments of their homes at a cost of just 25 cents a liter according to Mulleriyawa’s figures.

 

He says in today’s article that people in the disease affected areas are becoming increasingly cynical about do-gooders who come to their villages, collect water samples from their wells, draw blood from their veins and take urine samples and depart never to be heard from again. Every schoolchild in this country is all too well aware of King Parakramabahu’s famous words of making use of every drop of water that falls over this island to benefit mankind without allowing it to flow uselessly into the sea. Two monsoons bless this island of ours annually. They do not come with the clockwork precision that was once the norm due to the massive environmental degradation that has been the country’s lot from the colonial era when mountain slopes were denuded to establish the plantation economy and in more recent decades when myriads of crimes against nature have been committed for short term benefit. Nevertheless, at the present time when many parts of the country are experiencing heavy rainfall and even people in Colombo see a virtual deluge of water from roof catchments flowing uselessly into drains, the good sense of collecting this bounty from the heavens for future productive use must hit everybody between the eyes.

 

We have time and again published reports both on rainwater harvesting for domestic use (mainly drinking and cooking) and also on the more expensive Reverse Osmosis (RO) process involving the use of expensive imported filters that have also been installed in some places. Mulleriyawa claims that "some government agencies and vested interests" are promoting RO where a liter of purified water will cost four times as much as harvesting the rainwater that falls from the sky. He points out that RO plants must be located centrally and the people needing the water will have to go considerable distances to collect their needs. "Farmers are busy people with little time to waste in making daily expeditions to water distribution points," he has said in his article. We are not competent to comment on the cost: benefit advantages of rainwater harvesting vis-à-vis RO beyond saying that a commonsense approach would seem to favor the former. It is up to the experts to come out with the answer on how best to provide people living in vulnerable areas with safe drinking water. That, of course, is very urgent.

 

Mulleriyawa, a well qualified scientist and researcher, devoted a considerable part of his life farming a dry zone plot. He is therefore aware at first had about the lives of peasant farmers and the travail they face. He says there is widespread misuse of pesticides in this country, something that is fairly well known but addressed only cursorily, and blames the breakdown of the once excellent extension services of the department of agriculture for this calamity. He has also cogently made the case for professional counseling and psych-social support for CKDu patients and their families by the creation of a cadre of counselors who would guide them in coping with the disease and attendant problem. Those struck by the disease are desperately poor and attending dialysis clinics, often far from where they live, is a major strain. Although the government has approved a payment of Rs. 3,000 a month for these people, the writer with his knowledge and field experience says "this does not seem to be easily accessible in all districts."

 

Most of all, there must be support from the private sector, banks and companies making super profits and declaring super dividends to their shareholders to shoulder a part of the burden of assisting those who are already ill as well as those at risk. Admittedly a few companies have helped in this area as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility activity. But more support is needed as a resource-strapped government, however much it may wish to, cannot do all that is needed. Individual philanthropic support from those who can render such assistance would also be most valuable.