NEW DELHI
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) pre-occupation with preparations for the G20 summit appears to have pushed many other tasks, including collection of data for dengue cases, to a lower priority. The BJP-led Opposition in the MCD has alleged that the AAP-ruled civic agency has not released the dengue or malaria report for almost a month now.
BJP’s Raja Iqbal Singh, Leader of Opposition in MCD, said, “The weekly dengue or malaria reports are being suppressed. Till the time the BJP was there, we used to give data every week so that the public could be aware and understand the current state.”
An official of MCD confirmed that due to the immense workload for G20 preparations, officials were not able to devote time to other issues. On the other hand, MCD Mayor Shelly Oberoi said the civic officials are working hard to keep the city safe from dengue. She further said that MCD will soon release data on vector-borne diseases.
The Sunday Guardian interacted with Dr Neetu Jain, senior consultant of pulmonology, critical care, and sleep medicine at PSRI Hospital, to try to understand the situation better. Dr Jain said: “Every day, around 8-10 patients with dengue come, but most of the patients are stable. Patients with a decrease in platelets most commonly require a platelet transfusion. Dengue shock syndrome is not common.” She further said that the MCD not releasing data at once decreases panic among people, but it also makes people less conscious of dengue fever, and they may seek medical attention late, leading to more complicated cases.
Earlier, Raja Iqbal Singh said, “The AAP-led MCD has failed in each aspect, from dengue to keeping the city clean. They have failed from all angles. These people have stopped giving details on dengue and malaria. They are not even working. They do not have medicine to spray. On the contrary, they have terminated Domestic Breeding Checker (DBC) workers who are needed at the moment. When you are terminating the workers, who are already in smaller numbers, who will work in the area? They should think about what they are doing.”