Dengue cases: DC warns of criminal cases against officials

Taking serious note of the rising number of dengue cases in the district, Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad Divya Prabhu G.R.J. has warned that criminal cases would be filed against officials concerned for their negligence towards public health.

Taking serious note of the rising number of dengue cases in the district, Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad Divya Prabhu G.R.J. has warned that criminal cases would be filed against officials concerned for their negligence towards public health.

Chairing a meeting of officials to review the dengue situation in the district in Dharwad on Thursday, she said that tendency of handing over work to subordinates would not be tolerated. “They should go to the field, study the situation and come up with concrete plans to tackle the disease. If any official fails to perform his duties and if the number of suspected cases of dengue do not come down, then officials will be held responsible and cases will be filed against them,” she said.

The DC said that administration would also recommend to the government to take disciplinary action against erring officials.

Emphasising the need to check the spread of vector-borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya before an outbreak, she said that there might have been isolated cases, but it still required to be tackled immediately and collectively by officials of Revenue, Health, Panchayat Raj Departments and Urban Local Bodies.

She also stressed the need to take up extensive awareness programmes combined with larvae surveys in both urban and rural pockets. She directed the health officials to collect details on suspected and positive dengue cases from every government and private hospital and report to the administration on day to day basis.

On the reports of dengue positive cases in Mummigatti, she said that there were 3,200 houses in the village and larvae survey should be conducted in every house.

The Deputy Commissioner also directed District Surgeon Sangappa Gabi to open special wards in civil hospital and reserve beds for fever cases. Briefing the meeting, District Health Officer Dr. Shashi Patil said that 150 cases of dengue had been reported in the district from January and all of them had recovered. However, eight suspected cases of dengue had been reported in a week and a four-year-old girl child had died in the hospital. Senior officials of various departments were present.