kolkata: Mayor Firhad Hakim said on Wednesday that Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has urged the state government to include provisions of imprisonment for ignoring notices under Section 496 A of KMC Act. The civic authorities first serve notice to the owner of premises in which stagnant water is found, and if they failed to act, a notice is served under Section 496A of the KMC Act, under which a fine is added to the establishment's property tax. The owner, while paying the property tax, has to pay the fine as well.
"We have proposed the state government to impose fine as well as imprisonment for such offenders. The stagnant water in such condemned properties emerges as breeding ground for mosquitoes and results in spread of dengue in the neighbourhood. We cannot put so many persons at risk for such a callous owner,"Hakim said, while replying to an adjournment motion on dengue brought up by Congress Councillor Santosh Pathak at the monthly meeting of KMC.
BJP had staged a walkout and found allies in both Congress and CPI(M). They agitated in front of the room of the Mayor too. "In our fight against dengue, we have to keep politics in the backseat and work unitedly. We have to continue with our efforts of creating awareness among the people. If we are able to make people 100 per cent aware, then dengue cases will be curbed to a great extent,"the Mayor said.
On the same day, state Health department issued an advisory to ensure proper steps for the management of dengue cases. It said that the fever clinics should run in full capacity. Medical superintendents or other concerned officials of the hospitals or medical colleges have to ensure that a register of fever patients is properly maintained for the better management of dengue patients.
Lab services must be available 24x7 for the dengue patients admitted to the hospitals. Test reports of all the suspected dengue patients must be available on the same day when blood is collected. Real time availability of blood reports has been given utmost importance.
Labs will have to inform the hospitals if any alarming parameters are found during the blood tests of indoor patients.
An assistant superintendent must be earmarked for the management of all non-medical issues regarding dengue case management.