KOLKATA: Even as the city braces for another
Covid wave
, the number of malaria cases has been spiralling in some areas — Burrabazar, MG Road, College Street, Bowbazar, Tangra and Topsia, among other — that have been traditionally prone to the disease, resulting in a 15% jump in cases from 2019 when figures were last collated.
In contrast, areas under the
Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation
(BMC), which has often been the source of several malaria and dengue outbreaks, have seen a sharp slide in both. Barely a dozen cases of dengue and malaria have so far been reported from
Salt Lake
and Rajarhat.
A spurt in malaria cases in the past two months has compelled the
KMC
to engage more civic volunteers and honorary health workers for an aggressive anti-malaria drive. According to a KMC official, the civic body’s health department had already recorded 3,912 malaria cases across the city till the first week of September, which is a 15% increase compared to 2019. The figure also suggests that Kolkata’s malaria cases account for around 80% of the state’s share of the disease so far.
According to civic sources, the malaria count was under control till June. “The situation suddenly turned worse in July when we recorded as many as 300 malaria cases from five boroughs. In August, too, several malaria cases were reported from some areas in central and
north Kolkata
,” said a KMC health department official.
“Though the situation is not so bad, we are keeping a constant vigil after dengue cases were reported from several areas across the city,” said a KMC health department senior official.
On the other hand, only eight dengue cases have been recorded in Bidhannagar so far. Around 200 had been affected by dengue last year but there was no casualty. The count was quite low compared to 2019 when over 2,000 were affected. Over 20 people have died of dengue in the BMC area from 2016 to 2019.
“We have been spraying larvicide in all wards and urging residents not to allow water accumulation inside their houses. We have also conducted drone surveillance to keep a watch,” said BMC board of administrators chairperson Krishna Chakraborty.
Even though figures are not available, doctors in Kolkata believe that the number of dengue and malaria cases had dipped sharply in the city last year, largely due to the
Covid
situation. “The lockdown and the distancing norms ensured that along with Covid, other transmissible diseases like malaria and dengue, too, were checked. Unfortunately, we have seen a letting down of guard post-second wave,” said RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences intensivist Sauren Panja.
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