Leprosy colony alleges apathy

A leprosy colony of around 350 families at Antulay Nagar in Yewalewadi, south Pune, resembles a forgotten land.

- Indu Bhagat

The area, merged with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) around five years back, lacks proper roads. During the peak of the monsoon, survivors and patients of the dreaded disease suffer in silence as their shelters are flooded. Antulay Nagar was established in the early 1970s when survivors from Dr Bandorawalla Government Leprosy Hospital in Pune settled there. Today, around 90% of the residents are elderly individuals with disabilities, including those with mutilated hands and limbs.

For these residents, collecting water remains a struggle daily The settlement is in a lowlying area, and during the monsoons, rainwater enters their homes due to inadequate drainage and sanitation issues. Satish Sawant, president of a leprosy NGO, said, "As someone who has lived here for years, it breaks my heart to see the same misery repeat every monsoon.