The youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clashed with the police in Kolkata’s Chandni Chowk on Wednesday during their protest rally on rise of dengue cases in West Bengal. Police used lathicharge and water canons to disperse the protesters.
The BJP was protesting the “state government’s inability to prevent the spread of dengue in the state”. The rally started at around 1 pm from Central Avenue to reach the Kolkata Municipal Corporation headquarters on SN Banerjee Road. The rally however, was stopped at Chandni Chowk by police. Police had already barricaded the road in Chandni Chowk with guardrails. As the protesters tried to cross the barricades, they were stopped by the police and dispersed with the use of water cannons and tear gas shells. However, police officers said that the protestors tried to scale the barricade
A couple of protesters were injured in lathicharge. Many alleged that police used lathicharge without provocations. BJP state general secretary Raju Banerjee was injured, among others, they said. The BJP had planned to submit a deputation to Mayor of Kolkata on dengue prevention, illegal parking, among other things. BJP state chief, Dilip Ghosh said that use of force on democratic protests suggest that the state is scared of its failures.
The Calcutta High Court on November 11 has asked the West Bengal government to submit a report outlining the measures taken to prevent dengue. The report is to be submitted within November 22. A set of directives on dengue prevention was passed down to state from the High Court based on a public interest case filed in the court in 2017. The court thus wants to see how far those directives were being followed and to what extent, it was said.
The number of dengue affected in the state has almost doubled from 23,000 to 44, 852 in 15 days. The incidences are maximum in parts of North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Kolkata.
In Kolkata, new areas have emerged as the breeding grounds of dengue alongside Kolkata Municipal Corporation area. These areas are Tiljala, Jadavpur, Behala, Parnasree, Picnic Gardens, Santoshpur, Survey Square and Haltu. The numbers are on a rise in Magrahat, Mathurapur and Kulpi of South 24 Parganas too.
A team is being formed by the state health department to visit the affected areas and hospitals and will report on the deficit of infrastructure and suggest the measures to be taken.
The BJP has been suggesting that the government is distorting the figures of dengue-affected people and have been unable to control its spread.
