Dengue epidemic has clutched the state of West Bengal with more than 20,000 people being affected. With many not reporting to hospitals and continuing to stay at home, the figure could rise to even 50,000 in the next few days.
The government has, however, denied the fact that it underestimated the number of people supposedly affected by the virus.
The West Bengal health report quotes the death toll at 30, while unofficial figures project around 400 deaths. The report, however, could not inform on how many people were affected by the deadly virus. About five children had died in last one week in Kolkata alone.
North 24 Parganas is where most number of Dengue cases were found, along with other places in Kolkata. The Union health minister J.P. Nadda has taken a strong exception to the fact that Bengal government is down playing the crisis and decided to seek a report from the state government.
“We will see the report, and then, if not happy will send our own team,” said the Union minister.
BJP has lambasted Mamata Banerjee for her reported indifference to the crisis. “The crisis is not created by Mamata Banerjee. Mosquitoes bite people and bring dengue. I fail to understand why the chief minister hides fact. The total number of people affected by the dengue virus in the state is around 30,000,” said Chandra Bose, vice president of the BJP in West Bengal.
Health service director Biswaranjan Sathpathy said, “We are not hiding anything. We are asking the doctors to send us reports of the genuine cases. We have pressed our health team everywhere into action. We have sought help from the local bodies as well.”
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticised the opposition parties for politicising the issue.
“They have nothing to play with. So they are making it a big issue. I have personally gone through some of the reports and found that the deaths took place due to multiple organ failure,” said the chief minister couple of days back.
Bose said, “Chief minister should know why and when multi-organ failure happens in the cases of dengue. It’s very common when the disease becomes critical.”
BJP has alleged that the CMO instructed health officials to not write such cases as dengue in their notes.
Though people come to hospitals for blood tests, not many get a chance as there is a lack of infrastructure.
“In Degangana of North 24 Parganas district, even the panchyat members and health officials have fallen sick and have been found dengue positive. Our team has gone there and talked to people including the health officials. Situation is grave. If it is not contained, things would go out of our hands soon,” said Bose.
