West Bengal Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister Firhad Hakim has asked all municipal corporations and municipalities across the state to step up preparedness for fighting dengue even as they are faced with the unprecedented Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
Earlier this week, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had alerted the state administration to ensure that adequate preparations are in place for dengue.
The minister on Thursday held a video conference meeting with chairpersons of all municipalities on this. Municipal bodies have been asked to use sodium hydrochloride for disinfecting areas. He also asked them to ensure that there is no scarcity of water during the summers especially because people are using much more water now to wash hands frequently for checking COVID-19. The municipalities will be given ample supply of chemicals needed to purify water, the minister assured.
The state administration generally starts preparations for fighting dengue from winter every year as the dengue cases start emerging with the onset of summer. There have been increase in cases during the monsoons in previous years. Last year, over 47,000 persons in the state were affected by dengue and 27 had died till November.
However, preparations suffered a setback is year as the government had to channel most of its efforts into fighting COVID-19.
Secretary of urban development and municipal affairs Subrata Gupta and joint secretary of the state health department Sharad Kumar Dwivedi have been asked to supervise the fight against dengue in the state.
