The surge in dengue cases across the Siliguri civic area has prompted Gautam Deb, the mayor, to set a fortnight’s deadline to curb its outbreak.

In the past couple of weeks, the number of dengue cases rose in the SMC area, he said.“All necessary measures are being taken. Camps are being held to screen patients, affected areas are being disinfected (sprayed with larvicides) and conservancy services (clearing of garbage and accumulated water so that mosquitoes can’t breed) have been intensified. We have set a target to reduce the infection rate in the next two weeks,” said Deb after visiting some affected wards on Thursday.

Sources in the Darjeeling district administration said that since January, around 400 cases have been detected in the Siliguri civic area, mostly from wards 4, 5, 25, 42 and 46.With Deb were Darjeeling district magistrate S. Ponnambalam and other officials.

The DM said they were taking steps to control dengue in other areas of Siliguri sub-division and parts of Mirik, too.“Vector control teams are visiting areas where caseload is high. Matigara, Naxalbari (Siliguri sub-division) and Dudhia and Panighata (Mirik sub-division) are under surveillance,” said the DM.

In Malda, the administration and district health department are treating Wednesdays as “dry days” to control dengue.“Every Wednesday, workers visit households to check if water is stored in any bucket or container for long. They are being emptied immediately as these act as breeding grounds of mosquitoes. We are calling it a ‘dry day’ initiative,” said Nitin Singhania, the Malda district magistrate.In the past 15 days, 26 persons have been diagnosed with dengue in the district.