Residents of Kankerbagh have blamed the civic body for the rise in the number of dengue cases in the locality.

At present, Kankerbagh leads the list of affected localities with six confirmed and 14 suspected cases.

Residents said they had not seen Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials conduct fogging in their area for many months.

“For the past three months, I have not seen any fogging operation in my area,” said Om Prakash Singh, a businessman residing in Bhagwat Nagar Colony.

Rajesh Sinha, a retired government employee, said he couldn’t recall the last time he saw fogging being carried out in his colony. “You can ask the other residents. They will give you the same answer. We have forgotten if PMC is supposed to take up fogging work in our area as they have not done so for many years,” he said.

PMC officials, however, claimed they carry out fogging in the Kankerbagh area on a regular basis. Anil Kumar, the executive officer, Kankerbagh circle, PMC, said: “We conduct fogging regularly in the area to prevent dengue.”

When asked when was the last time fogging was carried out in the area, he said: “We have a roster according to which we carry out fogging in the area. Even today (Friday), fogging was conducted in many wards.”

When The Telegraph asked him if any preventive step was taken before the onset of monsoon, the civic official said: “We had sprayed kerosene oil in open drains.”

Residents, however, begged to differ. “This is rubbish. Kerosene oil has not been put in any of the drains in my locality. PMC officials have a habit of making false claims,” said Karuna Agrawal, a homemaker residing in Kankerbagh’s PC Colony.

According to doctors, fogging is essential in preventing the outbreak of dengue. “There is no vaccination for dengue. The disease can be prevented only by taking preventive measures such as fogging. It should also be carried out at places from where there has been an outbreak,” said Dr Diwakar Tejaswi.

A source at the district civil surgeon’s office said: “Kankerbagh has topped the localities as far as dengue is concerned. Even in the 2011 dengue outbreak, most of the cases had been reported from Kankerbagh and near Chiraiyatand bridge. Perhaps proper fogging was not carried out. Maybe residents had been careless and allowed water to accumulate in their houses.”

Other areas from where dengue has been reported are Rajendra Nagar near Chiraiyatand bridge, Sheikhpura and Boring Road.