West Bengal: BJP takes out protest rally over dengue outbreak, blames TMC government of suppressing numbers

Kolkata: BJP workers carried out a protest near Kolkata Municipal Corporation office demanding a 'dengue free' Kolkata and accused the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government of trying to suppress the figures.

Many BJP leaders along with party workers were detained and cops had to use water cannons to disperse protesters.

BJP leader Rimjhim Mitra after being detained with party workers during protest claimed that they had prior permission to hold a protest saying that it was peaceful. She further accused male police personnel of manhandling lady protesters.

The protest march was called by BJP Yuva Morcha and was taken out from Central Avenue in the city and is scheduled to end at Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) headquarters, with the gherao of the civic office, PTI reported.

Talking to the media, West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh who led the rally claimed that the TMC government was deliberately trying to hush up the numbers of people who were killed or were affected by dengue in the state.

He further alleged that the government in connivance with the KMC were hiding the actual numbers rather than taking steps to tackle the menace.

To stop the protestors from reaching the KMC headquarters, Kolkata Police placed barricades near Chandni Chowk Metro station to stop the rally from going beyond that point.

The saffron party further said that they wanted to submit a deputation to Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim about the rise in the number of dengue cases in the state adding that if they are stopped they would resort to a sit-in demonstration.

According to a report by the state health department, as many as 44,852 dengue cases were reported from various southern districts of West Bengal and Kolkata. Highest numbers of dengue cases have been reported from North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly.

As per a government official, 25 people have been killed in the state since January due to the dengue outbreak.

Bangaon municipal area, Gaighata, Habra I block, and Barrackpore municipal area of North 24 Parganas district, Falta, Mograhat I and II blocks, Mathurapur I and II blocks, Bhangor I block of South 24 Parganas district were also affected by the diseased, the report said.

Meanwhile, Calcutta High Court has sought a report from the state government asking if it had implemented the guidelines framed by the court in 2017 to tackle dengue in Bengal and also asked about the number of people who have died or are currently being diagnosed with the mosquito-borne disease this year.