1666, Bombay, Pandemics - and thereby hangs a tale. The Great Fire of London occurred in 1666, continuing for 4 days. An unintended consequence was in plague cases coz rat dwellings were also burnt down. Burning down houses & possessions soon became an antiplague measure. 1/n https://twitter.com/PTI_News/status/1248855101642387456

It came to be widely believed that the purifying flames disinfected the cities and exhumed the Y. Peoria bacteria responsible for plague. After nearly 2 centuries, the third wave of plague surfaced in Hong Kong. Board of Sanitation in Hong Kong followed burning down measures 2/n

The plague soon struck India through port cities. First fell Bombay, then Calcutta. With the history of London & experiment of Hong Kong, the authorities wanted to apply burning down as an antiplague measure. But wait. This period saw enactment of Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897. 3/n

Plague Commissioners took refuge under the EDA, 1897 (surprise?) to assume unbridled authority. Houses of afflicted people were marked, garments & possessions taken away - all to be burnt down. All in hopes that the fire from London of 1666 would bless the Bombay of 1897. 4/n

Similar model was then followed in Calcutta. The chawls of Bombay & bastis of Calcutta met the same fate as the congested dwellings of London. One author described this as public health safety 'by eviction & destruction'. With no link to the benefits achieved. 5/n

Looking back - 1666 is not just a number, Bombay is not just another place & above all, we must remember that pandemics are not just history yet. Hoping for better public health reforms hereafter. 6/6

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Pardon me for spam tagging, but I feel you can help in conveying this message to others. I thought this is an interesting bit of our history and pandemics in view of the ANI news quote.

@karunanundy @vakeel_saheba @advsanjoy @atti_cus @gautambhatia88 @Ghair_Kanooni @Vakeel_Sb

PTI news quote*