CUTTACK: Protesting the failure of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) in containing the mosquito menace in the city, Congress has lodged an FIR against the commissioner Anam Charan Patra and the city health officer Dr Satyabrata Mohapatra with the police.
Party activists on Tuesday also took out a rally and staged dharna in front of the Badambadi police station by sitting under a mosquito net.
Led by former DCC secretary Sachidananda Rout, the rally began from the party office at Shakti Nagar till Badambadi police station where the agitators staged a sit-in protest holding the civic body responsible for the alarming mosquito situation and rising dengue and malaria cases in the city.
Congress leader Rama Chandra Gochhayat said the CMC is in deep slumber when the entire city is in the grip of mosquito menace. “Despite its tall claims of carrying out fogging and anti-larval operations, the mosquito density is on the rise. This indicates fogging is not being carried out properly and the mosquito larvicide (ML) oil used by the civic body is of substandard quality,” he added.
Former DCC vice-president Sishir Rath said a delegation of the Congress had met CMC mayor Subash Singh a fortnight back regarding the issue.
“However, Singh shifted the responsibility on CMC commissioner Anam Charan Patra stating the mosquito eradication programme was being carried out under his supervision. When we met Patra, he instead asked us whether a municipality commissioner would go for fogging and spraying ML oil,” he added.
Rath further said an FIR has been lodged against Patra and Mohapatra for their failure to safeguard citizen’s lives. “If no step is taken within seven days, we will intensify our protest,” he added.
While efforts to elicit response from the CMC commissioner and the city health officer proved futile, police said they are yet to register the FIR. “Further course of action will be decided after a discussion with the DCP,” said a senior police officer.