The Trinamool-run Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) has decided to set up monitoring cells in all its 47 wards to keep a tab on vector-borne diseases and take necessary steps to prevent the spread of such diseases.
Mayor Gautam Dev said: “It has been decided to form a separate monitoring cell in all wards of SMC. It will monitor preventive measures taken by civic bodies to prevent the spread of vector-borne diseases.”
Each cell, SMC sources said, will comprise representatives of the respective ward committees, solid waste management committees, NGOs, local clubs and social welfare organizations.
Over the past few months, a sharp rise in dengue cases — according to unofficial reports, more than 4,000 people have been infected in Siliguri civic area and 22 have died of dengue so far this year — has triggered a response across the city.
Opposition parties, social organizations, residents and even some officials of the state health department questioned why the civic body could not control the outbreak.
Congress, BJP and CPM took to the streets in protest. Local BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh even wrote to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, seeking her intervention so that the infection can be controlled.
They claimed that the alleged inaction of civic bodies was responsible for the dengue outbreak in civic areas.
On Wednesday, the Mayor of Siliguri visited wards 2 and 20 where the caseload was relatively high to take stock of the situation and check the preventive measures taken by the civic body.