KMC steps up efforts to tackle disease spread along Adi Ganga

KOLKATA: Ten-year-old Avijit Tarafdar of Gobindo Ghosh Lane has been suffering from fever for the last 10 days.Panchulal Shaw (85) came back home in Bijoy Bose Road on Tuesday after being treated for

dengue

at Sambhunath Pandit Hospital.Madan Pal Lane resident Debashis Bose had to undergo multiple tests to confirm that his fever was not due to dengue or malaria.

All three have been victims of fever that is spreading in the localities along the Adi Ganga. Chotu Singh and his wife Papiya are spending sleepless nights with their one-and-a-half-year-old daughter Pari who has been down with fever for the last 12 days. The couple who live in a shanty behind 7, Harish Chatterjee Street, on the bank of the Adi Ganga, had to take the child to Chittaranjan Seva Sadan at Hazra.

The parents were away from home when the TOI team visited the neighbourhood. Their neighbour Sunil Shaw admitted that the dengue scare has hit large stretches of Kalighat “We are scared of the mystery fever. Many in the locality have fever. Those who have returned from hospital are too weak to walk. Even though the

KMC

has assured us of all help, the fever isn’t leaving the locality,” Shaw said.

Former Mohun Bagan player Ajay Khan, now in the late eighties, is hoping for a change in the weather. “We can take precautions and keep our surroundings clean, but can hardly wipe out the fever. There has to be a drop in the daily temperature and also in the humidity. The sudden showers are doing more harm. I fear we have to wait till the end of the month to get rid of this menace,” the Madan Pal Lane resident said.

Local Trinamool councillor Ratan Malakar is aware of the situation. But he doesn’t feel that there is reason to panic. “There is nothing to panic about. The situation is under control and there have been no loss of lives as yet,” Malakar said.

“Besides taking measures to curb the dengue menace, we are organizing awareness drives to make people understand that they too have a role in keeping the fever at bay. Citizens should not allow water or garbage to accumulate in their houses. They should cooperate with the civic team in fighting the mosquito menace,” he added.

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