Earlier manifest only in the tribal interiors of Surat and Valsad districts, SCA is becoming more and more common in the northern districts, as official agencies remain ignorant at worst and inactive at best.

Found in more than 100 tribal districts -- the highest incidence is in Central India -- SCA has affected about 70 lakh people across the country, national statistics say. However, though State health authorities say there are thousands afflicted in Gujarat, they have no figures to back them up or disprove them.

SCA is passed on from parent to child which, in close-knit tribal communities often translates into a vicious circle. Though a proteinp-rich diet is supposed to be useful, pre-marital counselling and awareness of the genetic disease are the only effective weapons against it.

Like AIDS, prevention is the best cure for SCA. But while AIDS has acquired a high profile, awareness about SCA is abysmally low, so much so that even the affected know little or nothing about it.

Consider Rasilaben's father, a fairly well-off farmer of Jhagadia taluka. He's already lost one daughter to SCA this year, but has no idea how to prevent it from claiming his surviving child. Maljipura farmer Manubhai Vasava, primary schoolteacher Mukesh L Vasava and Chikhli village upsarpanch Chandra Chaudhary have all cremated SCA victims and have more suffering from it in their families. They do not know the name of the disease that claimed their dear ones.

Jhagadia MLA and state Janata Dal chief Chhotubhai Vasava knows exactly the level of ignorance: ``I lost my 27-year-old son Mukesh to the disease eight months ago; my daughter Darshana two years ago. But there are no government or social fora who are doing anything to inform tribals about the disease or how to prevent it''.

Admitting that SCA cases were on the rise, Bharuch's chief medical officer J K Jain says he's detected 13 fresh cases in the recent past. His statements are corroborated by deputy regional director (health) in charge of Vadodara, Bharuch, Panchmahals and Dahod. Alongside this come admissions that there are no special programmes, someone suffering from fever or waterborne diseases like diarrhoea, gastro-enteritis and typhoid. ``Water drawn from the Dhadhar is infested with large or small worms'', claims Mukesh Vasava. ``The two-year-old tubewell is close to the river, into which the Dabhoi municipality releases its sewage, so that water is unpotable too''.

Raghavpura, Chikhodra Bhaliapura, Mujar Gamdi, Hetanpura, Ajitpura, Karali and Rasulpura have similar complaints. In several other villages, people have to dig up to 60 meters to access water. And even this water, GWSSB officials say, is salinated by effluent that has seeped into the sub-soil strata. A senior official warns the situation can worsen if remedial measures are not taken soon.

Elsewhere -- including Salad, Raghavpura, Shahpur, Patanveni, Sunderpura and Samsabad -- pollutants have made the soil unfit for agriculture. ``It has become hard and crop yield has fallen over the past years'', says Mansuri, though, again, he doesn't have the figures to back up his claim.

While VMC's Additional City Engineer B S Trapasia maintains he has never received any complaints about contaminated water from the southern belt, District Development Officer Anju Sharma admits a problem exists. She denies, however, that water pollution has triggered diseases.

Vadodara Urban Development Authority chairman Krishankant Shah, on the other hand, squarely holds pollution and water scarcity responsible for the problems of the region. Though the shortage can be met through a scheme, he says the pollution needs to be tackled first.

A pointer to the seriousness of the situation is the GWSSB's eagerness to extend its pipeline water scheme to 34 more villages. The State's Source Funding Committee, comprising secretaries of various government departments, however, is singing the old funds-crunch song to limit it to 18 villages.