CM presents figures, says Oppn creating unnecessary furore

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday trained her guns at the Opposition including BJP for their criticism alleging the state government's failure to control the spread of dengue.

Banerjee presented the figures of deaths related to dengue and swine flu across the country and argued that Bengal's efforts in awareness campaigns from the beginning of January 2017 has ensured that dengue affected people and deaths due to the mosquito-borne disease is lesser in comparison to majority of Indian states.

"This is a time when diseases like dengue and swine flu affects people. In Gujarat which is a BJP-ruled state, the death toll figure stands at 434, in Maharashtra the number of deaths is 685, in UP it is 165, in MP it is 141 and in Kerala, which is much less populated, the figure is 111, in Odisha the figure is 83, in Assam it is 87. In Bengal there has been 34 deaths which is much less. We would have been happy if there were no deaths for any death is sad. But the Opposition is unnecessarily creating a furore on dengue in Bengal," she maintained.

She lambasted the Opposition parties for their negative role in combating dengue in the state and said: "There should not be any CPI(M), BJP or Congress when it comes to such vector-borne diseases. The Opposition in Bengal does not play a constructive role. They should join hands in our fight against dengue. However, the three, Ram, Shyam and Ghanshyam have come together to form a ghont (unholy alliance) and are blaming us."

She added that some private laboratories for the sake of commission is claiming dengue without carrying out proper tests. "A section of private hospitals are not maintaining data properly. In our clinics of Kolkata Municipal Corporation, we are conducting tests and doing treatment following the guidelines of World Health Organisation (WHO)."

She further said that dengue is changing its character and said: "We do not have a control over diseases. We have to remain alert and maintain cleanliness. We must take care. Chairmen and Councilors of various municipalities must visit their areas regularly. Awareness drives must be conducted."

It may be mentioned that Bengal Chief Secretary Malay De on Tuesday asserted that the government was not trying to hide facts on dengue. He had said that dengue is a notifiable disease and all dengue cases, which have been tested positive following standard protocol in private diagnostic clinics or hospitals, have to be reported to the Health department. The Health department is releasing a bulletin on dengue every day.

De also made it clear that the government was not pressuring private healthcare establishments to cover up dengue deaths.