Veteran Dharavi Doctor Anil Pachanekar Supports Redevelopment As Key To Combat Quack Problem

Did you know that every year, four to 5% of deaths in Dharavi from various health issues are linked to botched treatments by quacks? Many people in Dharavi are so poor that they can’t afford general physicians, who charge between Rs 150 and Rs 300 per visit. Instead, they go to quacks who treat them for as little as Rs 50 to Rs 100.

Anil Pachnekar, who has been practicing in Dharavi since 1985, said, “Quacks are popular because they give every patient with a cold, cough, fever, or body ache a shot of antibiotics. They don’t check what other problems the patient might have or if the patient is allergic to a drug. They don’t think about side effects. In 90% of cases, the patient feels better. But in 10% of cases, complications arise. Then these so-called doctors (quacks) disappear or refuse to take responsibility.”

Pachnekar noted that many qualified doctors avoid setting up clinics in Dharavi due to lack of space and poor infrastructure.

“Once redevelopment happens, the slum stigma will go. Then, specialists will be willing to open clinics here," he said.

Pachnekar is the former president of the Indian Medical Association’s Mumbai chapter and has served on the Maharashtra Medical Council for twenty years.

He added, “In my 40 years of practice, I’ve seen thousands of such cases.”

“When complications arise, the patient’s family often calls me late at night. As a family doctor who has been with the community for decades, I do my best to help and comfort them. But our efforts have limits,” he said.

According to him, the only way to deal with the issue of quacks is if the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and the police launch a joint collaboration and work together. Pachnekar said that redevelopment will be a turning point for healthcare in Dharavi.

“All quacks operate from rented rooms. The redevelopment plan doesn’t offer benefits to those running businesses from rented premises. So, they’ll be forced to leave.” He stated that he has been dealing with the issue of quacks in Dharavi for quite some time.

In the early 1990s, when the underworld was active in Mumbai, he ran a campaign against the quacks. “I even made a list and shared it with the authorities. But the list was leaked, and I started receiving threat calls from the underworld,” he recalled.

Forty years of his life have been spent in Dharavi treating its residents with zero infrastructure progress in sight. “I am committed to serving Dharavikars and will continue to do so in the same spirit as going after the quacks who are playing with innocent lives,” Pachnekar said.

Over the past 40 years, his efforts have helped send 10 quacks behind bars.

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