Hundreds of dengue cases were reported from areas under the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, South Dum Dum Municipality and Dum Dum Municipality over the past week, according to the health departments of the civic bodies.
The three urban local bodies are responsible for providing civic services to Salt Lake, Baguiati, Dum Dum and Rajarhat, among other places.
A visit to these places on Tuesday revealed that all three civic bodies have turned a blind eye to the heaps of garbage that line the roads, empty plots that now resemble garbage dumping grounds, clogged drains and street furniture and fountains that have turned into mosquito-breeding sites.
The Telegraph drove around Salt Lake, Baguiati, Nagerbazar and Dum Dum and encountered pictures of stark neglect.
This newspaper has reported on multiple occasions about the lack of vector-control measures — such as spraying of larvicide and door-to-door visits to look for mosquito-breeding sites — in these areas. In Salt Lake, mosquitoes were buzzing around five fountains in front of Central Park, where the Kolkata Book Fair is held every winter.
Although in clear view and beside a busy thoroughfare, the authorities have not bothered to drain the water out of the fountains.
Heaps of garbage were spotted along roads near City Centre. Plastic cups, Styrofoam trays and coconut shells were spotted in the garbage.
A sizeable portion of the road, which connects a road along the Eastern Drainage Channel with AMRI Hospitals, and the entire pavement along the stretch resembled a garbage dumping ground.
The situation was similar in Baguiati. Several streets were lined with waste and there were pools of water near the fish and meat market.
An official in the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation said more than 600 dengue cases are being reported from areas under the civic body in a fortnight.
The affected areas include Baguiati, Kestopur, Ashwininagar and parts of Salt Lake and Rajarhat.
At South Dum Dum Municipality, which looks after Lake Town and Bangur Avenue, among other places, around 200 dengue cases are being reported in a fortnight, an official of the civic body said.
At Dum Dum Municipality, an official said, more than 200 cases are being recorded in a fortnight.
Krishna Chakraborty, mayor of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, said they were spraying larvicide and carrying out awareness campaigns. Many residents, however, said the civic body was doing precious little.
“We don’t see vector-control teams in our area anymore,” said Paritosh Mondal, a resident of Salt’s Lake Baisakhi, where a boy had died of dengue a few weeks back.
Chakraborty said residents, too, need to careful.
“People should not throw waste here and there,” she said.
Kasturi Choudhury, chairperson of South Dum Dum Municipality, said their vector-control teams were spraying larvicide daily. An official of Dum Dum Municipality said they would launch a clean-up drive next week.
