With steps taken by the State Government to check the spreading of dengue failing by the waysides, the viral disease continues to create havoc in Cuttack city. One more patient succumbed to the disease while undergoing treatment at the SCB Medical College Hospital here on Tuesday.
Chaturbhuja Parida (46) of Jagatpur, admitted last week, died as his condition deteriorated during the past 12 hours. With this, the dengue death toll in the hospital mounted to three. An equal number of dengue patients have also reportedly died in Keonjhar district so far this year.
Meanwhile, the suspected cases of dengue increased in the State to 586 on Tuesday after 45 more blood samples tested positive to the Elisa test on Monday. At present, the Cuttack hospital is treating 170 cases of dengue, ten of them under intensive care in critical condition. About half of these patients are from the city alone.
It’s not industrial areas alone; people elsewhere in the city are also suffering from dengue. But the district administration and the local civic authorities, in an attempt to divert attention from their failures, are targeting the small industrial units located in the Jagatpur and Khapuria industrial estates.
After shutting down a running industry, the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) on Tuesday ordered closure if three more units at Jagatpur on the ground that they are creating public nuisance by not keeping their premises clean. At least eight other units have been issued show-cause notices, sources said.