Kolkata: In the past week, about 1854 dengue cases have been detected in the state. While the figure for urban areas stood at 977, the number for rural areas is 906. Districts with high cases detected last week include North 24 Parganas (618), Howrah (419), Hooghly (356), Murshidabad (290), Kolkata (263), Jalpaiguri (214).
Mayor Firhad Hakim said on Thursday that the dengue drive undertaken by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will not only be carried out at the residences of the citizens but also at the houses of the councilors.
"There should be no discrimination between rank or stature when it comes to taking up drive against dengue. We need cooperation of the citizens in our fight against dengue," Hakim said after a meeting with the councilors after the monthly meeting at KMC on Thursday with dengue cases in Kolkata showing a rising trend.
Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal has also been affected with dengue.
The Mayor's remark assumes significance as Tarak Singh who happens to be the Member Mayor-in-Council (Drainage) mentioned before the councilors during the meeting that he has been slapped a notice for stagnant water in his residence. "I am happy that the Health department of KMC has served notice to me. This shows the transparency of work. I will ask the Mayor to award the concerned officer for this work so that the team is encouraged," Singh said.
Atin Ghosh, who heads the Health department of KMC, said that they has sent 50 blood samples and a joint study by the School of Tropical Medicine and NICED has revealed that 35 of these have been affected with 'Den III'. "The treatment protocol for this dengue type has not been spelt out and so we have to take measures to destroy breeding sources of mosquitoes to combat dengue," he said.
"The councilors should be active and conduct awareness and drive with the health officials at every doorstep in their respective wards. Separate team is being formed for conducting drive at the Durga Puja pandals which are being constructed at different places in the city," Ghosh said