The Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation’s dengue testing centres in Rajarhat, Narayanpur and Duttabad, on the fringes of Salt Lake, have recorded a rise in the number of fresh cases.
In the past couple of weeks, more than a dozen fresh dengue cases have been reported across 41 wards of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation.
Of these cases, the majority were reported from Kestopur, Baguiati and Chinar Park, an official of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation’s health department said.
According to the official, the total number of dengue cases recorded since January across the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation area stood at 50.
“We are observing a slow but steady rise in the number of fresh cases,” the official added.
Banibrata Banerjee, the mayoral council member in charge of health, said they have formed teams comprising health workers, sweepers and vector-control workers. The teams will go around each ward to spray larvicide and clear out garbage.
Dengue cases start going up in July and the trend continues till October, a senior official of the civic body’s health department said.
Last year 4,200 cases had been recorded from places like Rajarhat, Kestopur, Salt Lake and Chinar Park among others. Cluster infections were reported from several Salt Lake blocks and wards including 29, 31, 33 and 34 which are located within the planned areas of the township.
In Duttabad, a series of tenements that border Salt Lake along the EM Bypass was a hotbed for dengue. In places like Labony, EC Block, Vidyasagar Abasan and Purbachal Housing Complex a number of dengue cases were reported.
“This year we are being extra cautious and have already started cleaning the seven ponds inside Duttabad as well as the drains. People must understand that they cannot keep on littering,” said Nirmal Dutta, the husband of Alo Dutta, councillor of Ward 38 under whose jurisdiction Duttabad falls.
Across Salt Lake and other parts of the corporation, civic teams are supposed to visit localities every seven days to spray larvicide.