Just when the outbreak was taking wing, the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) did its two bit by putting out a couple of phone numbers for a ?dengue help-desk?.

The numbers given out were those of deputy chief health officer Dipankar Das, also in charge of Operation Dengue, and of Atanu Mukherjee, outgoing officer on special duty (health), CMC.

As desperate calls started pouring in, many drawing attention to spots that were major mosquito-breeding grounds and pleading for prompt action, the reply invariably was: ?We don?t know anything about this? You have been given the wrong numbers.?

On being informed about this callousness on Tuesday, mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya expressed surprise that Das, who was also pointsman in the civic body?s battle against dengue, had adopted such a hands-off policy at the help-desk.

?This is really strange,? Bhattacharya said, confirming that the number provided was that of the ?correct person?, but adding that no control room was being set up.

?The dengue outbreak has not reached a stage where we need to open a control room. The reason we are getting more dengue cases than in previous years is because of our efforts in locating and identifying cases along with other agencies,? said mayor Bhattacharya.

CMC health wing officials admitted to the confusion about dengue in Calcutta. ?People seem to be at a loss about ways to control the menace,? said Subodh De, mayoral council member (health).

The state health department, of course, has not even set up a helpline, despite the dengue outbreak being labelled an epidemic.