Ram, Laxman fall ill, no show at 235-year-old Ramlila

VARANASI: It was a battle with illness they could not conquer. For the first time in 235 years, Ramlila at Ramnagar was put on hold for a day after four actors playing the characters of Lord Ram, Laxman, Bharat and Shatrughan were admitted to Lal Bahadur Shastri government hospital with symptoms of diarrhoea.
On Wednesday, the episode of Phulwari could not be performed after an outbreak of diarrhoea in Malahi Tola, where the team was camping at a dharamshala.Following improvement in the condition of the boy playing Laxman, the episode was to be staged on Thursday but could start only three hours after the scheduled time of the famous Ramlila, which sees the entire city turn into an open-air set and involves the audience movement with the actors to different locations, over a period of 31 days.
Ramnagar Ramlila in charge Manoj Srivastava said, "In 235 years of this Ramlila, not a single episode was postponed. But, this time all four actors playing the main characters were hit by the diarrhoea outbreak."
Ramnagar Palika Parishad chairperson Rekha Sharma claimed that there was no lapse at their end. The team of doctors set up by chief medical officer V B Singh conducted a survey of the area and said that the water supply is getting contaminated as underground pipelines had been damaged.
‘Chlorine, bleaching powder below norm’
Dr Piyush Rai leading the team said, “Old localities on Ganga bank like Malahi Tola are facing problem of contaminated supply after the flooded river started receding. Residents say that the initial water supply is highly contaminated and clear water comes only after about 15 minutes of flow. One of our samples from a tubewell showed that percentage of chlorine and bleaching powder was less than prescribed norms.”
“On Wednesday, 31 patients from this locality were rushed to hospital with diarrhoea while 16 were admitted on Thursday. The four boys playing lead roles in Ramlila also had acute diarrhoea,” Rai added. The Ramlila in Ramnagar began on September 23 on Anant Chaturdashi and will end with the Bharat Milap episode a day after Dussehra.
Governor Ram Naik and CM Yogi had visited Malahia Tola ward on Thursday to inaugurate the memorial-cum-museum at the ancestral house of former PM LalBahadur Shastri. The latter’s grandson Siddharth Nath Singh, who is UP health minister, was also camping since Wednesday to take stock of government hospitals .