Even as the business units of the Jagatpur Industrial Estate here are blaming the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) for constantly ignoring civic amenities of the area, the civic body commissioner on Thursday issued a show cause notice to a prominent newsprint manufacturing unit of the Estate for apparently causing public nuisance by keeping its premises unhygienic.
After the dengue outbreak at Jagatpur and the death of a casual worker of the Cusboard Industries due to this viral disease, the CMC commissioner accompanied by the district collector visited the Estate on Thursday to take stock of the situation. Both the officials expressed grave concern over the poor unhygienic conditions prevailing in the estate.
“We have issued a show-cause notice to Cusboard Industries asking it to explain as to why the unit shall not be ordered to shut down for causing public nuisance in keeping its premises unclean and unhygienic,” informed CMC commissioner Gyana Das, adding that the dengue patient, who died while undergoing treatment in the SCB Hospital on Wednesday, was an employee of this newsprint manufacturing unit.
It may be mentioned that the industrial estate, which comes under Ward-49 of the CMC, gets a raw deal from the civic body. Since the industrial units here do not pay the holding tax, the civic body never bothers to take up civic amenities here neglecting the roads, drains, and sewerage and streetlights.
“Although we try to keep our units tidy, there are over hundred closed units here, which are the real breeding grounds of mosquitoes”, alleged Odisha Industries Association vice-president Rajesh Kanungo, who has his manufacturing unit inside the estate.
Meanwhile, the dengue situation in Cuttack city worsened on the day. The number of dengue patients at the SCB Hospital crossed 100 and by evening 102 patients are undergoing treatments here. The conditions of five of them are stated to be critical and they under intense care.