123 people suffer from heat-related health issues at Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony; 13 hospitalised, one serious

More than 120 people suffered from heat-related health issues, like dehydration, due exposure to sunlight on Sunday during a mega event in Navi Mumbai, where social activist Dattatreya Narayan alias Appasaheb Dharmadhikari was given the Maharashtra Bhushan award, a government official said.Thirteen of these people were admitted to different local hospitals and the condition of one of them is serious, the official said.

More than 120 people suffered from heat-related health issues, like dehydration, due exposure to sunlight on Sunday during a mega event in Navi Mumbai, where social activist Dattatreya Narayan alias Appasaheb Dharmadhikari was given the Maharashtra Bhushan award, a government official said.

Thirteen of these people were admitted to different local hospitals and the condition of one of them is serious, the official said. Lakhs of followers of Dharmadhikari attended the grand function held on a sprawling 306-acre ground in Kharghar. Union Home Minister Amit Shah presented the award, instituted by the Maharashtra government, to Dharmadhikari. The event, for which people had started gathering since morning, began around 11.30 am and went on till around 1 pm. Many of them had arrived on Saturday. The ground was packed with people and equipped with audio/video facilities for followers of Shree Sadasya (Dharmadhikari's organisation) to witness the function. The seating arrangement for the attendees was made in the open and there was no shed. ''A total of 123 people complained of heat-related health ailments, like dehydration during the event. They were immediately referred to the 30 medical booths set up at the venue. Thirteen of the patients, who needed further treatment, were shifted to different private hospitals and the condition of one of them is serious,'' a revenue department official, who was on duty at the venue, said. ''A total of 30 doctors were deployed at the medical booths that had intensive care unit (ICU) facilities to treat people at the venue,'' she said. A doctor at a civic hospital in Navi Mumbai's Vashi said that five patients were admitted there for treatment after they complained of heat-related health issues. During the event, Shah said he has never seen such a big presence of lakhs of people to honour a person for his social service. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis were also present on the occasion.

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