GBS is a curable but rare infectious disease, in which a patient’s immune system attacks the nervous system, leading to numbness in parts of the body. GBS is not a communicable disease like COVID-19. Photo for representation.
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After running tests on more than 70 patients, the Maharashtra State health department has finally come to the conclusion that Pune’s outbreak of the Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) is waterborne. They have isolated the bacteria, Campylobacter jejuni or C-jejuni.
Of the total number of cases (166), five have succumbed, 52 have been discharged, 21 are on ventilators and 61 are in ICU. This is India’s worst-ever GBS outbreak. The State health department has appealed to people in Pune to not panic but to be careful while consuming food and water. The World Health Organization (WHO) has sent a team of doctors to guide Pune’s medical staff, providing technical and on-ground field support.
The first GBS patient was diagnosed in Pune on January 9. Since then, Pune city’s Kamla Nehru Hospital, adjoining Pimpri–Chinchwad city’s YCM Hospital, and the city’s government-run Sassoon Hospital have been treating patients. Out of 161 infected, 31 are from the Pune municipal area, 83 from newly added villages around this area, 18 from the adjoining Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporation, 18 from Pune rural and eight from other districts in the State.
GBS treatment being expensive, the State government has announced it will be provided free of cost. GBS is a curable but rare infectious disease in which a patient’s immune system attacks the nervous system. This leads to numbness in parts of the body, and in critical cases, the respiratory system. GBS is not a communicable disease like COVID-19; the core pathogen of the disease is bacterial or viral.
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In Pune, the State medical department recently tested over 70 patients and found 27 were infected with C-jejuni bacteria. A senior officer in the State health department told Frontline: “the test results have confirmed that contaminated water, mostly from the Khadakwasla area [on Pune’s outskirts], has caused this infection.”
This officer also said that the wells in this area received untreated water from Khadakwasla dam. He added this well water that local people use “is the major reason for the GBS infection.” A water test conducted by the Pune municipal corporation indeed found that the wells and borewells around the Khadakwasla dam are contaminated.
In fact, the water tested at RO plants and water jars sold by vendors also showed contamination far above safe limits. Most of the results showed 16+ MPN (Most Probable Number) bacterial count. The ideal count be zero MPN for human consumption.
Pradeep Awate, a former officer of the State surveillance of epidemiology department, told Frontline, highlighted the problem of accessing clean water in villages around Pune.“Many villages face serious health hazards from drinking polluted water. As cities expand, these villages are incorporated into municipal areas without adequate infrastructure development.” This leads to fever and gastroenteritis outbreaks, he said, adding: “Poor sewage systems create multiple opportunities for water contamination. These issues require attention at both local and policy levels.”
Not surprisingly, Pune’s unplanned urbanisation has become a subject of discussion with the outbreak. Says Tanmay Kanitkar, author and activist from Pune: “We hear Pune is growing. But nobody discusses how it is growing. The GBS outbreak has shown that Pune is growing without basic amenities, be it a sewage system, drinking water access, open spaces or even proper roads.” Political pressure and real estate muscle have overshadowed basic norms of development, he said.
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Recently, Maharashtra’s urban development department gave its nod to include 23 villages in the Pune Metropolitan Region Area (PMRDA). But basic infrastructure is still lacking in these areas, a problem opposition leaders have been quick to point out. “The expansion of PMRDA and PCMC (Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation) was done for political reasons, says Sunil Mane, spokesperson of NCP (Sharad Pawar). “Ahead of the Assembly election, the urban development department cleared these proposals without proper groundwork. This is the work of the builder lobby and political leaders of ruling parties,” he said.
Pune has been an important real estate hub for over a decade in India. In 2024, Pune’s share of real estate in country was 18 per cent. The city saw a 15 per cent growth in the real estate sector in 2024. The city is the hub of IT and manufacturing industries, educational institutes, as well as agriculture-based processing industries. These diverse economic activities have driven real-estate interest in Pune. But the city’s growth has been largely unplanned, and the GBS outbreak is just a system of a larger malaise.
Meanwhile, Pune’s district guardian minister and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar has chaired three meetings with health department officials and the other authorities and has instructed that water purification in the Khadakwasla dams and its surrounding areas begin immediately.
