New Delhi: Scores of residents of three villages in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district have reportedly suffered massive hair loss and turned bald within a week. According to health officials, the suspected villain is the water pollution, potentially caused by fertilisers. The authorities concerned have gathered water samples from the area, as well as hair and skin samples from the affected villagers, for being tested to find out the exact reason.
The three villages — Borgaon, Kalwad, and Hingna — are situated in the Shegaon tehsil of Buldhana district. Residents have reported that both men and women have been losing mass of hair over the past several days. Once the hair loss starts, the person goes completely bald within a span of just a week.
After panic gripped the three villages, top district health officials visited the three villages and took stock of the situation. A health department team that toured the villages reported that around 50 people have been affected by the sudden hair loss, and the number could go up in the coming weeks. The officials reportedly said that skin and hair samples have been collected for analysis, and doctors suspect the rapid hair fall may be linked to polluted water or an underlying health condition. As they await test results to zero in on the cause, the medical team has advised the residents of the affected villages to be extra cautious about their health.
Three affected villages have a population of over 1,700
Located 80 kilometers from Buldhana city, these three villages have a population of over 1,700, with most residents being either farm owners who grow soy and toor dal or farm labourers. Bondgaon’s sarpanch, Rameshwar Dharkar, stated that the issue first came to the fore on January 2, when three women from a single household began experiencing severe hair loss.
The condition has assumed such severity that even a gentle touch or tug causes hair to fall out in clumps, say residents. The mysterious nature of the malady has left the villagers anxious and worried. Some of them have stopped using the water from the villages and are fetching it from nearby areas for the last one week.
