Bharatpur, May 10 -- Residents in two villages of Deeg district are living in fear after a sudden spurt in cancer cases with two dozen deaths being reported in the last two years. Kakda and Padla are neighbouring villages in Deeg district. The villagers claim a sudden rise in cancer cases in the last two years. The silver lining is that the villagers have realised that the fertilisers and pesticides they are using to grow crops is carcinogenic and are planning to shift to organic farming. The health department deputed a three member team of officials to carry out screening of the residents in the two villages to try and track down the cause for the spread of the disease. Vijay Singhal, Chief Medical and Health Officer, Deeg district said, "The health department is trying to find out the cause which has led to the rise of cancer cases in the two villages. We have no proper records of cancer patients as many go to Jaipur for treatment. Some died in Jaipur during treatment and some died in the villages after treatment," said Singhal. Abdul Sakur, sarpanch of Kakda village said, "In the last two years, 24 people have died of cancer. We never had so many cancer cases before. There has been a sudden rise but we don't know the cause." He said the spurt in cases has created unease in the villages. "All villagers are living in fear and they are scared to approach any doctor for treatment if they feel a lump in any part of their body," he said. A dozen people in the two villages are suffering from cancer and are in the last stage of the disease. Vishnu Foujdar, a native of Kakda village said "My mother Shyamvati Devi, 55 died due to abdominal cancer 13 days ago. We have seen many people in the village dying of cancer recently. It never happened before." Gulab Singh, a local said "Villagers are worried about the spread of cancer after the rise in the number of cases. We have informed officials about the disease." The deceased from Padla were identified as Faisar Mev,30, Aslam Mev,30, Rahish Mev,30, Ayub Mev,50, Jamseeda,30, Maikuja Mev,55, Mamrej Mev,55, Topha Mev,35, Aaseen Mev,65 and Kalman Mev,65. Similarly, the deceased from Kakda were identified as Bhajan Jatav,60, Ramkesh Sharma,55, Vikram Singh,60, Shekhar Sharma,50, Maya Devi,40, Patram Singh,40, Shyamvati Devi,55, Jumma Mev,60, Rambu Bediya,45, Kallu Mev,70, Suwan Mev,55, Swaroop Singh,65, Shrichand Khati,65, Moti Prajapat,25. Vijay Singhal, Chief Medical and Health Officer, Deeg district said during a night chaupal organised by Deeg Sub-divisional officer where the people apprised the officials about the cancer cases. Singhal said a three member team of the health department led by a doctor was constituted to collect water samples from the villages for examination. "Water samples of two sources which provide drinking water for villagers were not contaminated," he said. He said during the screening in village, the health department found three cancer patients. He said the doctors told the villagers about cancer and its spread due to lifestyle, food and pollution. "The doctors informed the villagers that fertilizer and pesticides being used by them to grow foodgrains are going into the soil and the body and could lead to cancer." Abdul Sakur, sarpanch of Kakda said the residents held a panchayat the next day and discussed the matter. "The villagers are realising that the fertilisers and pesticides are poisonous. The doctors told us in the chaupal that we should reduce the chemicals and we have decided to stop using chemicals in the food we grow for our own consumption," he said....