The highest number of dengue cases in the Bidhannagar municipal area were reported from areas along the Kestopur, Bagjola and the Eastern Drainage canals this year, mayor Krishna Chakraborty said on Friday after a meeting with state urban development minister Firhad Hakim.
Chakraborty said they had received Rs 98 lakh from the urban development and municipal affairs department to combat dengue across the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) area.
Hakim told The Telegraph that he had asked the BMC to focus on solid waste management.
He also asked BMC officials to visit Puja pandals and look for mosquito-breeding sites.
North 24-Parganas is among the districts that are reporting a relatively higher number of dengue infections, said a health department official.
More than 450 dengue cases were reported from the 41 wards of the BMC between last Sunday and Friday.
“Of these, more than 230 cases were reported from the 14 wards in Salt Lake,” said a senior health official in the BMC.
“A high number of dengue cases are being reported from the ED, EE, DL, IC and KB-KC Blocks in Salt Lake, which are close to the Eastern Drainage Channel,” a BMC official said.
The blocks along the Kestopur canal from where fresh dengue cases are being reported almost every day include AE, BE, CE, SA and BH, AH and AG.
Outside Salt Lake, infection clusters are being regularly reported from Chinar Park, Kaikhali, Arjunpur and Teghoria.
Chakraborty said the onus of preventing dengue did not lie with the civic body alone.
“Our teams are regularly coming across stagnant pools of water in garages and flowerpots, and on rooftops. We have been repeatedly asking residents to ensure there is no water accumulation inside or near their houses. While some are responding to our appeals, many don’t heed our warnings,” said Chakraborty.
The civic body has already hired more than 150 labourers, in addition to its vector-control teams, to spray larvicides across the 41 wards.
