Cuttack, July 26: The BJP today staged a demonstration in front of the district collectorate here to protest against the state government's "poor management" of dengue situation that has assumed serious proportions in the past two weeks.
The BJP alleged that there was lack of co-ordination among various departments concerned in containing the outbreak in the city.
It also alleged that the dengue control activities of the district administration, as well as the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC), were ineffective. The BJP said the disease was spreading steadily with more than 562 dengue cases being reported from Cuttack and its surroundings in the past two months.
Of the affected, more than 221 persons, including 157 from Cuttack, are undergoing treatment at the special dengue ward at SCB Medical College and Hospital.
The Jagatpur Industrial Belt, which falls in ward No. 49, has turned into an epicentre this year with more than 417 cases being reported from the area. Accumulation of rainwater in abandoned containers in various factories reportedly made the area a breeding hub for dengue causing Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes.
Raspati Devi, a native of Barbil, who was undergoing dengue treatment at the SCB died last night, taking the toll to four this year. The rise in the number of dengue patients has forced SCB authorities to increase the number of beds from 225 to 250.
BJP leaders alleged that three government departments - urban development, industries and health - had failed miserably to co-ordinate among themselves and take adequate sanitation measures before the arrival of monsoon this year.
The larvicide oil that the municipal corporation uses to spray is also of poor quality and has no impact in controlling the mosquito menace in the city, said a BJP leader.
"The municipal corporation should be dissolved immediately for its failure in improving sanitation and also for not taking adequate measures to contain the dengue outbreak," said BJP leader Nayan Kishore Mohanty.
Trying to defend their case, civic officials claimed that the rain in the last two days had affected the ongoing sanitation drive and anti-dengue activities in the past 24 hours.
The sanitation situation is likely to worsen as dengue mosquitoes usually get active with an increase in humidity that is still prevailing despite the continuing showers in the city.
Municipal commissioner Gyana Das, however, said that the civic body would shortly construct drainage channels at Jagatpur Industrial Estate to ensure that water was not accumulated there. The Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) will finance the project.
