BJP councillors and supporters hit the streets on Thursday demanding that the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) takes immediate action to control the spread of dengue in the city, claiming that the situation is alarming.
Seeking to hand over a memorandum of demands to Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim at the KMC headquarters here, the BJP took out a procession from the party's state head office on Muralidhar Sen Street in central Kolkata, but were stopped on the way on Central Avenue by the police.
Police removed the agitators who were squatting on the arterial road that connects central and north Kolkata, to ensure free movement of traffic. "The KMC is not taking any effective step to control the dengue situation, which has become alarming in the metropolis," BJP councillor Sajal Ghosh, one of those leading the rally, told reporters.
He said that the party will continue to hold agitations till vector control measures are properly taken. Meena Devi Purohit, another senior BJP councillor and a former deputy mayor of the city, claimed that measures to stop the spread of the vector-borne disease have not been taken by the municipal corporation.
"Door to door campaign is a must in addition to other measures to control the situation," she said. Though the state government has not yet confirmed any death owing to the disease, BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul alleged that several people have died this year. The state health department reported 1,062 new confirmed dengue cases in West Bengal on Wednesday.
(With PTI inputs)
