SRINAGAR: Dr Sundaram Natarajan, a leading Mumbai-based ophthalmologist who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2013, single-handedly conducted 40 retinal surgeries on Kashmir’s pellet victims in three days.
Dr Natarajan and his team of four doctors was brought to Kashmir amid the ongoing turmoil on July 26 by the Pune-based NGO Borderless World Foundation (BWF). The team had conducted 69 surgeries at the SMHS hospital till Saturday afternoon.
Dr Natarajan conducted 40 surgeries by himself and led six others. Three members of the team including Dr Natarajan, left Srinagar on Saturday but two others are still working at SMHS. All the surgeries by the team were done free of cost, the BWF and doctors at SMHS said.
Speaking to HT, Dr Natarajan explained the complicated nature of pellet injuries “The centre of the eye is the sensitive zone. Patients with a damaged central part might not get their normal vision back but they will get side vision, ” he said. In the ongoing unrest in Kashmir more than 600 people have been injured by pellets.