Ahmedabad much safer than Pune: Pune students

Ahmedabad: Students returning to Ahmedabad from Pune say Ahmedabad is much safer than the Maharashtra city insofar as the threat from swine flu is concerned.

As for the situation in Pune, they speak of a panic-stricken city leaving nothing to chance in its battle against swine flu.

With the number of H1N1 positive people rising steadily in the city, the Maharashtra government has closed all schools and colleges in Pune for a week.

The decision came as a great relief to all students from outside Pune, including those from Ahmedabad, who left for home immediately. Students who have returned to Ahmedabad say staying in the city any longer would have been a big risk.

"People are reluctant to step out of their homes unless it is absolutely necessary," said Mihir Shah, a resident of Gurukul, who is an MCA student at Pune University. "It's not only me but everyone is scared he will get swine flu."

Shah caught a bus for Ahmedabad as soon as schools and colleges were closed by government order. "I am feeling much safer in Ahmedabad," he said, "but I am not venturing out much as one person has died of swine flu in Ahmedabad too."

The parents of the students were also very worried. Shruti Shah, a resident of Paldi, is doing her MBA in Pune. She returned home on Saturday.

"When my parents heard of Reeda Sheikh's death - the first swine flu death in the country - they began worrying about me," she said.

"They kept asking me to come back to Ahmedabad because of the flu in Pune. I had to return because of their pressure but now, I think, it was the right thing to do."

Shruti's friend, Nitu Patel, who came back with her said that, at their college, if someone sneezed, she was looked at with suspicion. "Thank God, I am safe here in Ahmedabad," Patel said.

Doctors in Ahmedabad are worried about the panic caused by swine flu than by the disease itself.

They say it is a curable disease if treatment is started early. "Swine flu is primarily an air-borne disease but there is no need to panic," said Dr Manish Agarwal, doctor at Medilink Hospital in Ahmedabad.

"Not only people who have come from outside the state, but even those who stay in the city should avoid public places for a while. Staying away from crowded public places and eating homemade food are the best precautions against swine flu."