Dengue situation reaches alarming stage in Bengal with cases crossing 50 K-mark

Kolkata: Dengue has reached alarming proportions in West Bengal, with the total number of affected people crossing the 50,000-mark.

As many as 56,707 cases have been recorded till date, with over 10,000 being affected in the last seven days, till Sunday evening, as per statistics available with the West Bengal Health Department.

Although the health department has not revealed any figures on dengue-related deaths till now, unofficial estimates put the casualties at 60.

However, BJP Legislators, like the Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, have claimed that the toll has crossed the 100-mark considering that in several cases dengue deaths have been reported as “death due to unknown fever.”

Health department insiders fear that going by the current situation the possibility of the forthcoming Durga Puja festival being held under the shadow of the dengue outbreak cannot be ruled out.

As per health department statistics, the worst affected areas are North 24 Parganas, where the total number of cases as on date touched 11,244, state capital Kolkata is in the second position with the figure touching 6,070 and Murshidabad is in the third place with 5,791 cases.

The other districts where the impact had been serious include South 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Howrah and Malda.

At the beginning of this month, a Public Interest Litigation, was filed in the Calcutta High Court seeking its invention in ensuring proper administrative initiatives in arresting further spread of the disease.

The PIL has been filed at a time when the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has accused the West Bengal Health Department of suppressing the actual figures relating to the number of affected people or the deaths.

On the other hand, the state government has accused the Union government of denying the necessary financial assistance on this count.