RAIPUR: Fifteen dengue deaths besides the hundreds of positive confirmed cases have created panic in the twin cities of Durg-Bhilai in Chhattisgarh even as the state health department claimed the prevention and control mechanisms are working in place to counter the "alarming situation".
The positive dengue cases are simultaneously emerging in other districts of the state. The fifteen deaths during the last two weeks in-fact surpassed the combined tally of previous five-year on dengue deaths in the state. From 2013 to 18, as many as 14 persons died of dengue, as per the information given in response to a question raised in the Chhattisgarh Assembly this year. The opposition Congress party criticised the "insensitivity" of the health minister Ajay Chandrakar who is yet to visit the affected places of Durg-Bhilai.
"It's so appalling and a cruel joke at a time when people are dying of dengue and the health minister calls CM Raman Singh as Bhisma Pitamah (blessed with power to decide the time and place of death), but Chandrakar himself is no less than a Dom (one who looks after cremation ground and build up funeral pyre for the dead), after being accountable for the deaths of many innocent persons and blatantly remaining indifferent to those dying owing to curable diseases like dengue and malaria", Congress spokesperson Vikas Tiwari said.
Chandrakar, during the launch of 'Mukhyamantri MGNREGA Mazdoor Tiffin Vitaran Yojana' - the scheme aimed at distributing tiffin boxes to over 10 lakh labourers, said, "Till the Chief Minister turns Chhattisgarh as the developed state, he will not tell anyone when to die or till how long to live".
It was, however, the chief minister who took cognisance and asked the chief secretary to visit the affected places. "The state government is on alert and remain serious to combat dengue. There is no dearth of medicines and medical facilities", he affirmed.
The health secretary Niharika Barik has instructed the department to strengthen surveillance and quick response at the ground level. The department besides intensifying awareness drive has set up an equipped laboratory, the preparedness and the medical facilities even involving the private hospitals to treat the dengue cases.