Pune GBS Outbreak: Furious Residents Demand Answers As Khadakwasla MLA Bhimrao Tapkir Goes 'Missing' Amid Crisis In His Constituency

Over half of the Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) cases in Pune are from within a 5-kilometre radius of Sinhagad Road, and 85 per cent of them were dependent on the Nanded village well and Khadakwasla Dam for their drinking water needs, Maharashtra Health Department's investigation report, dated February 13, 2025, revealed. However, even after this, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Khadakwasla, Bhimrao Tapkir, has yet to visit the area even once. Due to the MLA's absence, residents have expressed their anger and disappointment.

Akshay Dedge, a resident of Nanded City, said, “Since the outbreak of GBS, our MLA did not visit the area to ask the people if everything was okay. The National Institute of Virology (NIV) officials and Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials visited the site, but the leader that we chose did not even bother to come and meet the families of the deceased. When they need votes, they come and do campaigns to win elections. However, after winning, they forget about the people and their problems. The MLA in our region has served for three terms, which is 15 years, and yet the area is struggling to get basic facilities. The BJP only focuses on areas like Kothrud where they have a large vote bank."

Kritika Raut, a resident of Sinhagad Road, added,  “This area has become the epicentre of the GBS outbreak, and people are struggling to get clean drinking water. We expected our elected representative to stand with us during this difficult time, but he hasn't even visited once. The administration is taking slow action, and there is no assurance of support for getting water from PMC. We feel neglected, as PMC treats us as secondary citizens because we are a newly merged village, and we lack a water connection line from the PMC. Now, if our representative does not stand with us, who will take the stand for us?”  

Sandeep Walkekar, another resident of Nanded city, commented, "Because we are newly merged in PMC, we don't have a panchayat, and we don't have a corporator either because elections are due. So, we only have the MLA, and if he keeps on ignoring us where would we go? Recently, Maharashtra Health Minister Prakash Abitkar visited our area, and after his visit, the well in Nanded was covered as instructed by the officials. We don't have a water purifier for the villages. Several resorts around the Khadakwasla Dam release their untreated water into the dams and in the absence of proper sewage systems, wastewater from these resorts is released into the reservoir. The same water is lifted and stored in the well. We are drinking slow poison."

Meanwhile, despite repeated attempts, MLA Tapkir was unavailable for comment.