KOLKATA: Baguiati, which has over the years earned the dubious distinction of recording the maximum number of dengue cases, was witness to the season’s first dengue casualty with the death of Satabdi Saha, a 34-year-old homemaker and mother of an eight-year-old child, on Monday.
As TOI made the rounds of the neighbourhood off VIP Road, knocking on the doors of several houses within 100 metre radius of Saha’s house at Sachindralal Sarani, almost every alternate house had a patient suffering from dengue-like symptoms, either in hospital or bedridden at home. The blame game between residents and the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation notwithstanding, fresh water accumulation, which make for an ideal breeding ground for Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that spreads dengue fever, was found at many places.
“My wife was down with dengue in 2019 as well and was hospitalised for six days. But this time, she couldn’t survive. Our neighbourhood is infested with mosquitoes. At the back of our house, there is an empty plot that has turned into a dumping ground. I have been writing to the authorities for the last two years but with no response. My wife had to pay the price for the authorities' laxity with her life,” said Sanjay Saha, Satabdi’s husband.
Jolly Bagui, another local resident who has just recovered from dengue, said: “Several of our neighbours are down with fever and I am living in constant fear. I have luckily survived but what if something happens to my daughter?”
As TOI went around the area, multiple residents of Sachindralal Sarani and Baguipara joined in pointing out the breeding grounds of mosquitoes — from an illegal khatal right in the middle of a residential neighbourhood and a clogged canal to a drainage channel.
BMC officials blamed incessant rain that had led to stagnant water accumulation at many places as the primary cause behind the late surge of dengue this year. Four police officers of Baguiati police station alone got affected with dengue, prompting the civic authorities to conduct an inspection on the police station premises and Karunamoyee bus terminus area.
“About 137 dengue cases were reported in October alone and 10 have been affected from dengue this month till date,” said a civic official. BMC has formed six quick action teams of civic officials, health and conservancy workers that will work till end of this year across the entire BMC area divided in six boroughs to conduct anti-dengue and Covid drive. The teams will start their work after Chhath Puja.
BMC board of administrators’ member Pranay Roy said that a dengue and Covid task force has been formed under which the quick action teams will be working. “Each of the teams will have seven health and conservancy workers along with the respective ward coordinators and supervisors. One assistant engineer will supervise the work of each of the team. All the 41 wards will be visited and inspected by these teams on a regular basis,” said Roy, who is heading the task force.
