Opposition parties in Bengal, including the BJP and the CPM, have begun hitting the streets to corner the Mamata Banerjee government over its alleged failure in public health management as dengue cases continue to rise across the state.
Sources said the Opposition ploy to attack the government on health issues is significant as it comes at a time when the ruling party is on the back foot over the alleged teacher recruitment scam.
“Education and health are two important pillars of any government and both are state affairs. The SSC scam has proved that the government had totally failed in sensitive matters like teachers’ recruitment. The dengue situation is a matter of concern and as the main Opposition party it is our duty to corner the ruling establishment on public health,” said a senior BJP leader adding that the health department was directly under the supervision of chief minister.
The BJP’s political attack on the Trinamul was clear on Monday after the leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari sent a four-page letter to Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya urging immediate central intervention to help the people of Bengal from the “mismanaged” dengue situation.
In his letter, Adhikari asked the Union minister to send central teams to guide the state on how to control the dengue situation in Bengal, highlighting the surge in Calcutta and the rest of Bengal.
“The dengue figure has spiralled out of control as the case count crossed 42,000, the highest cumulative figure till a calendar year’s 43rd week since 2017......The number of deaths due to dengue is also alarming. However, the state government is doing its best to manipulate the figures and sweep the actual data under the mat,” Adhikari wrote in his letter.
Bengal witnessed the highest number of dengue cases in the 43rd and 44th week of this year since 2017, leading the state government to step up measures to curb the vector-borne disease.
Bengal reported around 50,000 cases till Sunday across the state, mostly in Calcutta Hooghly, Jalpaiguri, Siliguri and Murshidabad.
State government sources said the number of dengue cases had increased as scattered rainfall had occurred during the festive season when civic bodies did not work properly.
“Scattered rainfall occurred during Durga Puja and Kali Puja. As employees of the civic bodies did not work properly to clear stagnant water during the Puja days, the number of dengue cases has gone up,” said a source.
A senior Nabanna official said the state government allots Rs 750 crore annually to tackle vector-borne diseases.
“With this fund, restoration and renovation of canals and water bodies will be carried out. Hospital infrastructure will be renovated to accommodate more dengue cases,” said the official.
All hospitals across the state have been asked to keep emergency wards open 24/7 so that dengue patients can be treated.
Hospitals will also set up a help desk to give information related to dengue and available treatment facilities in the healthcare establishment. In rural areas, ASHA workers will keep a tab on fever cases.
“We are carrying out 8,000-10,000 dengue tests daily. We expect the number of cases to come down as soon as the minimum temperature drops to around 17°C,” said an official.
A bureaucrat said the number of deaths has increased this year and they suspected a Covid link.
“Primary survey hints that many of those who died of dengue this year earlier had Covid-19. Though any scientific data is yet to be released on this, primary observations revealed that the pandemic has a link with the deaths,” said a bureaucrat.
Opposition parties have started launching protests across the state on the issue. The BJP hit the streets in Calcutta last week as part of its dengue protest exercise and blamed the state government for the mismanagement in controlling dengue.
The Congress and the CPM are also staging frequent protest in the districts where the dengue surge is alarming. The BJP has taken up protest rallies in Hooghly and Siliguri, while the CPM had started a campaign to highlight how people are losing their lives to dengue.
“Dengue cases went up in rural areas and it proves how the government has failed to take precautionary measures . The chief minister, who is also the health minister of the state, has to take responsibility for such an alarming dengue situation. The state government, including the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, is trying to hide data just as they did during Covid-19. We will continue our movement against this government,” said CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty.
Congress leaders in Murshidabad started a weekly cleanliness drive to show the lackadaisical attitude of Trinamul-run rural bodies.
Although dengue was mostly an urban issue, especially in and around Calcutta, this year the number of cases is alarming in rural areas. Among districts, the situation is worst in Hooghly and Murshidabad in south Bengal and Jalpaiguri and Kalimpong in north Bengal.
Sources said, though the state was reporting deaths resulting from dengue, the state health department is mum on death statistics. This has prompted the Opposition to accuse the government of suppressing dengue death toll.
The state government officials, including its ministers, claimed that dengue was not merely a Bengal issue and cases have increased in states like BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.
"BJP and other opposition are politicising the dengue situation. It is not that dengue cases have increased only in Bengal, but they should look at BJP-ruled states too. The government is taking all measures to prevent the spread of dengue, but people need to be aware too," said state urban development minister and Calcutta mayor Firhad Hakim.