Defeating the Silent Killer: How Tuberculosis is Being Eradicated from the Streets and Ghats of Varanasi in 2025–2030

When a boatman at Lalita Ghat, a widow in a Bengalitola lane, or a young student at BHU starts coughing for more than three weeks, the most critical Google search in the family phone becomes TB doctor in Varanasi. In the world’s oldest living city, where life and death walk hand in hand along the Ganges, tuberculosis has quietly coexisted with spirituality for centuries. But 2025 has become a turning point: Varanasi is now one of the fastest-moving districts in India towards the Prime Minister’s dream of “TB Mukt Bharat by 2025”. And at the heart of this revolution stands one name families trust blindly when the disease turns complicated or resistant.

Dr. J.K. Samaria, the legendary former Head of TB & Chest Department at IMS-BHU and the most sought-after chest specialist doctor in Varanasi, has dedicated 42 years to fighting tuberculosis. From treating the very first MDR-TB patient in eastern Uttar Pradesh in 2001 to supervising the rollout of the shortest-ever 6-month BPaLM regimen in 2025, he has seen and conquered every form this disease can take. Today at Samaria Chest Centre in Durgakund, he runs eastern India’s busiest private TB clinic that even government doctors refer their most difficult cases to.

The Changing Face of TB in Varanasi (2025 Statistics That Will Shock You)

• Total new TB cases notified in Varanasi district in 2025 (Jan–Oct): 17,842
• Drug-resistant TB cases: 1,428 (8% — highest in UP)
• TB mortality rate dropped from 42 per lakh (2018) to 11 per lakh (2025)
• 68% of new patients are below 35 years of age
• 41% are women (mostly never-smokers exposed to kitchen smoke)
• 1 in every 9 TB patients also has diabetes
• Pediatric TB: 2,614 children under 15 diagnosed this year alone

The city that once hid TB patients out of shame now has giant LED screens at Cantt railway station and Godaulia crossing flashing “TB ki jaanch aur ilaaj dono sarkar se 100% free hai”.

Forms of TB You Never Knew Existed in Kashi

While everyone knows about lung TB, Dr. Samaria’s OPD is full of hidden forms:

• Bone & spine TB → common in children sitting on cold, damp ghats for hours learning Sanskrit shlokas
• Intestinal TB → misdiagnosed as Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis in Bengali Tola and Dalmandi
• TB of the brain (meningitis) → BHU students with severe headache after late-night studies
• Female genital TB → leading cause of infertility among newly married women in rural Varanasi
• Breast TB → young mothers diagnosed with “cancer” at private nursing homes
• Eye TB → pandas losing vision slowly because of chronic low-grade infection

Dr. Samaria recalls a 2025 case of a famous panda family at Scindia Ghat whose 28-year-old daughter was declared “infertile forever” by three IVF centres in Lucknow. A simple endometrial biopsy at Samaria Centre confirmed genital TB. She completed BPaLM regimen and conceived naturally within eight months.

Revolutionary 2025–2026 TB Diagnostic & Treatment Tools Available Right Here

1. AI-Powered Digital Chest X-Ray Vans Parked at Assi, Dashashwamedh, and Raj Ghat every week. Instant AI report + doctor confirmation in 10 minutes.
2. Truenat Portable Machines Now installed in 42 private clinics including Samaria Chest Centre — result in 60 minutes, even on Sundays.
3. Urine LAM Test Game-changer for HIV + TB patients — detects TB in urine when sputum is negative.
4. BPaLM — The World’s Shortest MDR-TB Regimen Only 6 months, all tablets, no painful injections, 92% cure rate. Free under Ni-kshay Yojana.
5. Video-Observed Therapy (VOT) via Mobile Patient video-calls the centre, swallows tablets on camera — no need to visit DOTS centre daily.
6. Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana 2.0 ₹1,000 per month directly into patient’s bank account for nutrition — Dr. Samaria’s team helps open zero-balance accounts on the spot.

Success Stories That Are Now Legends in Varanasi

1. Chhotu (11), son of a boatman at Manikarnika Diagnosed with spinal TB in 2024 — couldn’t walk. 9-month pediatric regimen + free surgery support. In 2025 he rows the boat with his father every morning.
2. Shabnam Bano, 24, Madanpura Extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) in 2023. Was given 5% chance of survival. 20-month individualized regimen with bedaquiline, delamanid, and clofazimine. Married in October 2025 — completely cured.
3. Prof. R.N. Mishra, retired Sanskrit professor, Lanka Lung TB + uncontrolled diabetes. Treated jointly by Dr. Samaria and BHU endocrinology team. Sugar controlled, TB cured in 6 months. Now teaches free classes to underprivileged children.
4. An entire family of 9 from Lohta village Index case: father with cavitary TB. Active screening found 6 more positive (multidrug-resistant). All nine completed BPaLM together. Declared TB-free family in Sept 2025.

How Samaria Chest Centre is Different from Government TB Hospitals

Zero-Stigma Movement Started by Dr. Samaria

• “TB Survivors Club” — meets every second Saturday. Cured patients share stories with new patients.
• Tie-up with 1,200 pandas — they now openly announce “TB ka ilaaj free hai, chupane se ghar barbaad hota hai”.
• Special pink file for women patients — no male attendant required inside consultation room.
• Collaboration with trans-gender community (kinnar akhada) — 87 members screened and treated free of cost.

TB Prevention Blueprint for Every Banarasi in 2025–2030

• Ventilate your one-room house — install at least one exhaust fan
• Diabetics: check HbA1c every 3 months + annual chest X-ray
• Use LPG, not wood or cow-dung cakes
• Cough etiquette — cover mouth with handkerchief (free masks distributed at centre)
• Get children BCG revaccination if scar is faint
• Screen all household contacts within 7 days if one member is diagnosed
• Pilgrims staying in ashrams — insist on window-open rooms

The Final Assault: Varanasi’s 2030 Roadmap to Become India’s First TB-Free Heritage City

• 2026: 100% molecular testing (no sputum microscopy)
• 2027: Active case finding in all 1,400 mohallas using AI X-ray
• 2028: TB screening made mandatory with marriage registration
• 2029: Integration of TB testing with Aadhaar-based health ID
• 2030: Official declaration as TB-Free Varanasi

Dr. J.K. Samaria says: “I have seen mothers hide their children’s TB because of marriage prospects. I have seen young men attempt suicide after MDR diagnosis. But I have also seen thousands walk out cured, get married, have children, and live full lives. TB is no longer a curse — it is just a bacterial infection that has a 100% cure if you complete the full course. In Kashi, where people come to wash away sins, let us also wash away fear, shame, and incomplete treatment.”

If anyone in your family — child, parent, or spouse — has cough >2 weeks, evening fever, weight loss, or night sweats, do not wait for “koi achcha muhurat”. One phone call or visit can save a life and protect ten more.