Bhiwandi civic body failed to spread awareness on diseases: Activists

Bhiwandi After a 28-year-old man from Bhiwandi died of suspected dengue, residents have blamed the civic body for filth in the city which has led to the spread

Bhiwandi After a 28-year-old man from Bhiwandi died of suspected dengue, residents have blamed the civic body for filth in the city which has led to the spread of such diseases.

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On Sunday, Vishal Bhandari died of suspected dengue after being ill for around a week.

His family said the municipal corporation has not yet taken any preventive measures to curb the disease.

Bhiwandi Nizampur City Municipal Corporation (BNCMC) said all the five cases were tested and that they found that the cause of death is not dengue in all cases. Hence as per the civic body, there has not been a single dengue death in 2019.

“After Vishal’s death, the civic officials came here for the first time and sprayed medicines. There are open gutters which are mosquitoes-breeding spots. It is the civic body’s responsibility to prevent mosquito breeding,” said Vishal’s uncle Jayathilal Bhandari.

He added, “None of the officials visited the building where we live. They could have checked the flats and figured out if there are dengue larvae in the area. No such measure was taken.”

BNCMC medical health officer Jaywant Dhule said the dengue larvae are found in flower pots and anywhere where there is accumulated water, even the refrigerator in the house which has water trays.

“The health department carries out fogging everywhere in the city. This work is done in two shifts daily. We also take up awareness programmes among residents,” said Dhule.

Residents and activists claimed that this is not the first case of dengue death in the city and that there have been five dengue deaths.

Manohar Konka, a social activist from Bhiwandi, said, “In two months I have learnt about five dengue deaths in the city. The civic body is not taking any preventive measures. Regular fogging is needed in all areas. The civic body always cites lack of funds for not taking measures.”

As per the civic body’s health department, there has been one death due to dengue in Bhiwandi last year.

This year, around 107 people were reported to have suspected dengue. Out of them, 12 were positive.

“There have been reports about five deaths in Bhiwandi due to dengue. We checked all the five cases and those were not because of dengue,” added Dhule.

A general physician from Piranipada, Bhiwandi, Sunil Patil, said people can easily miss the symptoms.

“There have been complaints from patients about fever, vomiting and severe body ache. The initial blood reports might not diagnose dengue. Hence, people think it is normal illness. One should immediately get tested if fever keeps coming back,” said Patil.

He added that residents should be made aware of the disease.

“People don’t know how the disease spread. We doctors try and explain to the patients about the disease and also distribute pamphlets but there is a need to have larger impact,” added Patil.