In a letter to the prime minister, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan pointed out that unconfirmed reports say that the adulteration may have reached vegetable ghee as well. ``I have discussed the matter with successive directors of Department of Prevention of Food Adulteration and it is our considered view that low scale adulteration of food stuffs is fairly common in the country,'' he said and pressed for a review of the ``existing arrangements.''

He suggested that the council have representatives of Ministries of Health, Food, Environment, Science and Technology, Commerce, Consumer Affairs and Industry.

The three deaths that took place yesterday were at Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Hospital, Lok Nayak Jay Prakash (LNJP) Hospital and Ram Manohar Lohia(RML) Hospital.

There are 573 dropsy patients admitted in various city hospitals, of whom 113 were admitted on Tuesday. Sixty-five patients were registered in the out-patient wing of AIIMS yesterday. According to physician Anurag Walia, most of these patients are old cases and only 25 cases were seen on Wednesday. There are three patients in all in the general ward in AIIMS. At Safdarjung Hospital, 35 patients have been admitted with some of the patients sharing the same bed with one or even two patients. As is the case of Tilak Ram and Deepak with the latter suffering from renal failure as well. Their father Lal Bahadur who cannot walk because of swollen legs, visits his sons carried by his younger brother on his back. ``They will admit me when one of my sons gets discharged,'' he says.

Of the total 41 deaths due to dropsy, nine each were reported from DDU and RML hospitals, five each from LNJP and Hindu Rao hospitals, four from Safdarjung hospital, two each in Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital, NorthernRailway Hospital, ESI Hospital and St. Stephen's Hospital. There has only been one death due to dropsy in AIIMS.

The department of Prevention of Food Adulteration has collected 314 samples of which 129 samples have been found to be adulterated.

Scribe's helping hand

Vyjayanthi, a beggar woman, found herself inside the special emergency unit for dropsy cases at AIIMS on Wednesday. She was there only because a young journalist, Shahshi Iyer, spotted her walking in pain, dragging her swollen legs.

But Vyjayanthi doesn't know anything about the epidemic or its origin from adulterated oil. ``I eat just one roti a day or whatever crumbs I get,'' she tells Farida, the doctor on duty at the Institute. She is advised not to take any curry which may contain oil and given a prescription of the vitamins and calcium tablets.

According to Farida all patients have been advised to take a high protein diet and low intake of salt. Vitamin B-complex tablets and Evion (Vitamin E) are prescribed to all of them.Special attention is given in cases of complications, which include glaucoma, cardio-vascular problems and renal failure.

Unfortunately, the long prescription handed to Vyjayanthi, indicating the dosage of the drugs, is of no help. Vyjayanthi is illiterate. Moreover, according to doctors, in cases like Vyjayanthi's, the economic background hampers treatment. Though medicines are provided to them, there is no way of ensuring that the next meal they eat is not made in adulterated oil.

So, while the number of cases coming in are increasing, the treatment in a number of them is not effective because of ignorance and inability of the patient to follow the doctor's orders.