Chief Minister to summon high-level meeting to take stock of anti-dengue drive

The decision was taken after two students of Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan died of fever at a private nursing home in the city. The victims’ family members alleged that the two children died of dengue which they had got from the school as it had become the breeding ground for mosquitoes.

The state government has sent letters to all the schools in the city and outskirts to take adequate steps to fight dengue and cooperate with the civic bodies. In Tuesday’s meeting, the Chief Minister may ask the civic bodies about what are the steps taken to fight the spread of dengue. She would also ask the health department officials to make adequate arrangements to prevent the spread of the disease and she might also give some outline to prevent the disease. It may be mentioned that both KMC and BMC have carried out an extensive anti-dengue drive as a result of which the spread of the disease has been checked so far. 

The guardians of several students on Monday had staged a demonstration inside the campus alleging that the school authorities have failed to take up mosquito drive despite the repeated pleas. The parents also demanded a leave for seven days which the school authorities have finally accepted and declared holiday for the next seven days.

The senior officials of the BMC on Monday visited the school and collected few larvae from inside the school campus. BMC Mayor Sabyasachi Dutta said that the civic body regularly carries out the anti-dengue drive and they have also asked all the schools under their jurisdiction to clean the garbage and to clear the water accumulation. He also alleged negligence on the part of the school authorities.

The school authorities, however, blamed the BMC for not taking enough drive to check dengue. Rekha Baishya, principal of the school said that it is not definite where the victims had caught the virus from. They can also get the virus from outside. “We spread sufficient mosquito repellents inside the school campus. We asked the BMC to clear the dirt outside the school but they did not take any action in this regard,” Baishya said.

Countering her statement Dutta said: “We instructed all the schools to check whether there is garbage and accumulation of water.” “But this school seemed to have failed to follow our instructions. Few larvae were spotted from inside the school campus.” 

The two victims, Bibaswan Guhathakurta and Purbita Hazra, were both from the same school and died in the hospitals itself after they were admitted with fever. Two women, one from Dum Dum and another from Baguihati also died after being admitted in a private hospital for fever.