The Kolkata police employed brute force against the protestors demanding action against the menace of dengue outside the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The BJP on Wednesday had organised a rally in Kolkata to register their protest against the spike in dengue cases in the city and accused the incumbent Trinamool Congress of hushing up figures of dengue cases in the state.
BJP workers protest near Kolkata Municipal Corporation office demanding a ‘dengue free’ Kolkata among other demands. Police use water cannons to disperse protesters. pic.twitter.com/Lc4xulfDEB
— ANI (@ANI) November 13, 2019
Leading the rally, BJP state president Dilip Gosh told reporters, “The state government is deliberately trying to hide the actual number of dengue cases. They are more interested in concealing the actual number of dengue incidents than tackling the menace.”
The protest march was organised by BJP’s Yuva Morcha. It was started from the Central Avenue and culminated at the Kolkata Municipal Corporation headquarters. Police have stated that barricades were set up near Chandini Chowk Metro Station to stop the rally beyond that point.
BJP leader Rimjhim Mitra stated that despite having permission to carry out peaceful protests, male police personnel manhandled them. The police had also used water cannons to disperse the crowd.
BJP leader Rimjhim Mitra after being detained with party workers during protest: We had prior permission to hold a protest and the protest was peaceful. Male police personnel manhandled us. #Kolkata https://t.co/HQZWy6uthi pic.twitter.com/QktJbftseQ
— ANI (@ANI) November 13, 2019
Dengue is a water-borne disease, caused by a bite of a female infected mosquito. The dengue mosquitos prefer to breed in fresh stagnating water. When a mosquito bites a person who has dengue virus in his or her blood, the mosquito becomes infected with the dengue virus. An infected mosquito can later spread that virus to healthy people by biting them. Dengue cannot be spread directly from one person to another, and mosquitoes are essential for the transmission of the dengue virus.
According to the report by the state health department, about 44,852 dengue cases have been reported from Kolkata and its adjoining areas so far. As many as 25 people have died of dengue in Kolkata since January this year.
