Kolkata: Residents claim increase in dengue cases, authorities decline

While the residents here in ward number 99 claimed that dengue cases are on the rise in the area and the officials are circulating the false figure regarding the dengue cases, the Kolataka Municipal Corporation (KMC) refuted the claim and termed the situation as 'normal'.

"I had submitted the report that there are 72 cases of dengue in ward number 99. But the municipal corporation authority does not accept this number and instead gives a false number. I had submitted a letter containing the names of the patients and their details but still, they don't accept it," said Debashish Mukherjee, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) member of ward 99.

He further claimed that the municipal corporation is showing a false number of the dengue cases on the Dengue Patient Tracking Console (DPTC) which is set up by the state government.

"There is an app 'Dengue Patient Tracking Console (DPTC)' where the corporation shares data with the state government. In the app also they are showing misleading data and till September 16 they reported only 1 case. The government is suppressing cases of dengue and I will take this matter to a higher authority," he said.

"I lost my mother because of dengue fever this week. She was 71-year-old and her kidney was also not working properly. So the doctors had restricted the water limit to 1 litre. Later she got diagnosed by dengue fever. In dengue, the patient should get maximum fluids but we could not provide her more fluid due to the water restriction. We had admitted her in the Remedy hospital but unfortunately, my mother could not be saved," Shantanu Guhu, a resident told ANI on Monday.

However, Atin Ghosh, Deputy Mayor of KMC declined these claims saying, "We had established the infrastructure to combat vector-borne diseases in 2010. We have taken all the necessary action to control this disease. KMC provides free dengue treatment. Last year, more than 50,000 people took the dengue test and this year, more than 30,000 people have taken the test."

"This year, dengue cases are lesser than last year. Two people have lost their life due to dengue till now which are registered in the KMC area. Two more have been diagnosed positive but the confirmation will come from the state government as they monitor and audit the situation," Ghosh told ANI.

Speaking on 72 cases being registered in ward number 99, he said, "This cannot be confirmed right now as first, we have to go and check that whether these affected people are local or from outside. But I was earlier given a number of 73 cases of dengue in which I confirmed that 42 is of ward number 99 and 8 cases are repeated case which has appeared twice in the list, while 15 are out of this ward. We are sending reports daily to the counsellor and organised various awareness campaigns in order to control the disease."

He further appealed people to keep their surroundings clean and cleaning stagnant fresh water collected in some spaces to avoid dengue fever.