HC directs state, Kolkata civic body to submit report on dengue

Taking note of the spread of dengue in the West Bengal capital and adjoining districts, the Calcutta High Court directed the state government on Monday to submit a report on action taken by it to control the vector-borne disease.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice T B N Radhakrishnan and Justice Arijit Banerjee directed the state government and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to submit by November 22 the report on the spread of dengue and action taken to control it.

The PILs moved before the court in this regard will be taken up for hearing again on November 22, the bench said.

Moving separate PILs on Monday, advocates Bikash Bhattacharya and Rabishankar Chatterjee submitted that the disease was spreading rapidly, with more than 40 deaths and nearly 45,000 people having been affected in the state in 2019, with a large number of cases reported in after the Durga Puja.

They claimed that the high court had in 2017 directed the state and the KMC to take steps to tackle the disease that affects people every year, mainly during and after monsoon.

The lawyers claimed that the authorities were lax in taking action to control the disease.