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Let There Be Sight / Chhandak Pradhan

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Walk into any hutment of slum 36 of Rajabazar in east Kolkata and the story is same. One small, dark and damp room inhabited by eight to ten odd family members; abject poverty, inhuman living conditions and limited or no access to basic health care. Average daily income is around Rs 50. Just to make ends meet many make cardboard boxes. The rate- Rs 25 for thousand boxes. The elderly are the worst affected. Smoke from ovens and pollution cause eye and respiratory diseases making them a...
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Walk into any hutment of slum 36 of Rajabazar in east Kolkata and the story is same. One small, dark and damp room inhabited by eight to ten odd family members; abject poverty, inhuman living conditions and limited or no access to basic health care. Average daily income is around Rs 50. Just to make ends meet many make cardboard boxes. The rate- Rs 25 for thousand boxes. The elderly are the worst affected. Smoke from ovens and pollution cause eye and respiratory diseases making them a liability for their families. Help comes occasionally in the form of medical camps set up by NGOs. This project follows such a group of elderly residents from the slums suffering from cataract and documents their journey from darkness to light.

Copyright Chhandak Pradhan / Babel Images
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  • The slum as seen from the ambulance carrying doctors and medical supplies for the free eye clinic. Kolkata, 2009..
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  • Dr Pinaki Mitra, associated with the Susrut Eye Foundation and Research Centre's community service program, walks towards the free medical camp set up in Slum 36 of Rajabazar. Kolkata, 2009..
    india-cataract-15.jpg

  • Slum-scape. Kolkata, 2009.
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  • Mohammad Yousuf, aged 80, suffers from perpetual blindness from cataract in both eyes. He says that the foggy vision prohibits him from earning for his family. He recently got hit by a motor bike and is afraid of venturing out onto the streets. Kolkata, 2009..
    india-cataract-14.jpg

  • Place-Date-State: Description....
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  • At the medical camp, a doctor does an initial screening to determine if a patient has a perception of light. Only those who pass this test may be selected for cataract surgery. Kolkata, 2009..
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  • After the initial screening, eye drops are given to the patients to dilate their pupils so that the doctors can see the extent of the cataract. The patients wait for their turn to be examined. Kolkata, 2009..
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  • Syringing is being done on of the patients to determine the patency of the nasal acrymal duct. This step is crucial to determine if the patents are suffering from any kind of infection in the nasal acrymal duct. Kolkata, 2009..
    india-cataract-20.jpg

  • A patient undergoes biometry at the Susrut Eye Foundation Hospital. This process is used to determine the power of the patient's lens. Kolkata, 2009..
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  • A patient has her blood pressure checked while a doctor notes down the details of her medical conditions. Kolkata, 2009..
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  • Place-Date-State: Description....
    india-cataract-04.jpg

  • Dr S Das, a surgeon working with the eye hospital performs cataract surgery on one of the patients. On an average he performs 10-40 such operations each day. Kolkata, 2009..
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  • Having performed hundreds of cataract surgery during his more than five year stint with the hospital, Dr S Das says he needs not more than five minutes for operating each patient. The efficient assembly line approach is crucial as the number of poor patients in need for eye surgery is staggering. Kolkata, 2009..
    india-cataract-07.jpg

  • A patient is escorted out while the medical staffs prepare the operation theater for the next patient. The efficient assembly line approach is crucial as the number of poor patients in need for eye surgery is staggering. Kolkata, 2009.
    india-cataract-08.jpg

  • A patient rests after the eye surgery. The patients are kept overnight and after a check up the morning after, they are allowed to go back to their homes. Kolkata, 2009..
    india-cataract-09.jpg

  • The patients line up to be photographed after their surgery so that the doctors have a visual record of the patients. Most of the patients are illiterate and have similar names. This process allows doctors to identify the patients easily when they visit them in the slums a month after the operation to do routine follow-ups..
    india-cataract-10.jpg

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