Opposition parties in West Bengal on September 25 slammed the TMC Government in the State for its alleged failure in preventing the raging dengue menace in the State and claimed it is trying to "hide" the death toll due to it.
The charge drew a sharp retort from TMC which urged the Opposition to refrain from politicising the issue.
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Amid the rising cases of the vector-borne disease, the government on Monday directed the district authorities to immediately clean all dengue hotspots based on entomological alerts, officials said.
It also asked the Central Government offices in West Bengal to ensure cleanliness and adequate preventive measures at under-construction projects, including those by the Kolkata Metro Railways.
“The State is facing the dengue menace and the TMC Government is busy telling people about the chief minister's recent visit to Spain. I am not a specialist but a common person I can easily make out how laggard the State Government has been in dealing with the situation,” State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.
Senior BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya said the TMC Government is trying to "hide" the death toll.
“The dengue problem is nothing new in Bengal. But the TMC Government has the most lackadaisical approach to dealing with it. Every year whenever the menace breaks out, the State Government goes into denial mode and dubs it an unknown fever. The State Government is trying to hide the dengue death toll in the State,” he said.
Reacting to the allegations, the TMC asked the Opposition parties to refrain from politicising the issue.
“The State Government is doing everything possible to address the problem and the situation is under control. The Opposition BJP and other parties are trying to fish in troubled waters,” TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said.
Though over 30 deaths have been reported from across the State, the health department has confirmed only three so far.
