The chairman of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, Sabyasachi Dutta, has written several letters to his colleagues on the civic body’s board, urging them to urgently take dengue prevention measures.
Dengue cases are rising in all 41 wards of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation.
Dutta has written to Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation mayor Krishna Chakraborty, mayoral council member in charge of health Banibrata Banerjee and a senior civic official, asking them to take steps to prevent mosquitoes from breeding in piles of garbage and pools of water on terraces, driveways and garages of homes in Salt Lake.
Dutta is also the councillor of Ward 31 that comprises many Salt Lake blocks, including, AE, BE, CE, DE, AF, BF, CF and DF.
“Residents across my ward are living in fear of dengue. They have been sending me messages or calling me desperately and I have forwarded their pleas to my colleagues in the corporation,” Dutta told Metro on Monday.
He said he has sought extra support — equipment and vector control teams — to check the rise in dengue cases across the ward.
Dutta said he has sought help from the mayor so rapid action teams, comprising solid waste management personnel and vector control teams, can be sent to clean, spray larvicide and check for stagnant pools of water in houses and commercial establishments in the ward.
“I have sent a request to check the rooftops of houses. I have received complaints that water is accumulating on rooftops,” he said.
A 66-year-old AE Block resident died of dengue at a city hospital a few days ago.
This newspaper has reported on multiple occasions how dengue cases are rising in areas adjoining Salt Lake as well. These include Baguiati, Kestopur, Kaikhali, Chinar Park and Rajarhat. Garbage and pools of water in pothole-ridden roads or in under-construction buildings continue to pose threats.
Civic body figures show 1,900 dengue cases reported in the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation area this year, around 560 of them in the past fornight. These figures are from dengue testing centres run by the civic body and don’t include tests conducted at private outfits.
Multiple calls and a text message to mayor Krishna Chakraborty went unanswered till Monday night.