Awareness of people required, says Subrata during dengue drive

Kolkata: Subrata Mukherjee, state minister for Panchayat and Rural Development on Saturday on Saturday led a drive to check the spread of dengue in areas that fall under Ballygunge Assembly constituency.

Mukherjee oversaw garbage cleaning operations and took part in a campaign to create awareness against dengue. He will participate in a similar drive on Sunday morning in areas surrounding Ballygunge and Gariahat that fall under his Assembly constituency.

Mukherjee said, to combat dengue, the steps taken by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) are not enough and people should come forward and cooperate with the civic bodies. "It is not possible for any government agency to visit every household to see whether the containers that are used to store water have been cleaned every week or not. Awareness of people is required. If the political leaders come out and take part in the drives to check the spread of dengue, then that can create a better impact," said Mukherjee.

It may be mentioned that KMC has launched a massive campaign to create awareness against the spread of the disease and urged people to follow the dos and don'ts strictly. But few people follow the instructions and blame the civic authorities for dengue outbreak, senior KMC officials said. They categorically said that in order to check the spread of the disease, the residents and KMC should work hand in hand. It may be mentioned that Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) had held an interactive session with the residents of New Town on Friday for better implementation of anti-larvae drives.

Meanwhile, local people set up a conservancy lorry of KMC on fire at Paharpur Road after two local people died of high fever on Friday. Local people alleged that they had died of dengue and alleged that despite requests, the KMC did not carry out anti-dengue drives.