A Bihar Military Police lady constable at a private nursing home on Sunday. Picture by Sachin

Five more constables of the first women’s battalion of Bihar Military Police are down with dengue even as the civic body is planning to form a citizens’ body to keep the city clean.

Till Friday, seven woman constables of the battalion had tested positive for dengue. Some of them had been administered platelet transfusion.

The dengue virus prevents the body from forming platelets and transfusions are required in serious cases.

On Sunday, the number of woman constables suffering from dengue had risen to 12.

On its Friday edition, The Telegraph had reported how the constables feared many more of them would get infected with dengue. Some of them blamed the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) for their plight, saying it had failed to carry out fogging or cart away garbage from their neighbourhood at Alamganj.

The dengue mosquito — Aedes aegypti — breeds in stagnant water. Its population can be kept in check only through fogging.

Mayor Afzal Imam, who also lives in Alamganj, had said the civic body would carry out fogging in the neighbourhood of the battalion quarters. On Sunday, civic officials claimed fogging had started in the area, but the constables at the quarters demurred.

“My colleagues are suffering because of the callousness of the PMC officials. Had they carried out fogging in time, this would not have occurred,” said Chandni Kumari, a constable.

She added: “The PMC officials began their cleanliness work on Saturday. By then, seven constables were already suffering from dengue. Now, five more of my colleagues are down with the disease. This shows that the PMC has not carried out fogging or cleaning operations properly.”

The dismal condition of roads near the campus corroborated Chandni’s charges. No bleaching powder had been sprinkled on the water in ditches outside the campus.

Civic body officials, however, had a different story to tell. Narendra Nath, the executive officer of the Patna City circle of the PMC, said fogging was carried out regularly at Alamganj. “There was garbage inside the quarters. We cannot clean garbage from inside any campus. They should take care of their own sanitation.”