Encephalitis deaths continued to mount in North Bengal with six more patients succumbing to their ailments on Friday taking the toll to 114 even as a listless Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee slapped suspension orders on three senior health officials accusing them of suppressing the report of the disease in the initial stages.
Even as the Opposition mounted pressure on the Government for lacklustre handling of the situation and not taking precautionary measures well in time despite the dreaded disease striking the zone last year, the Chief Minister quickly shifted the blame on the shoulders of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri Chief Medical Officers Subir Bhowmick, Jagannath Sarkar and North Bengal Medical College Superintendent Amarendranath Sarkar for failing to inform her about the situation well in time “when I was touring Darjeeling early this month.”
The Government had “found these three officials guilty of dereliction of duty as they should have informed me or even my Ministers who had been touring the nearby tea estates a few days ago,” Banerjee said refusing to to take questions as to what the Ministers, particularly the North Bengal Development Minister Gautam Deb, himself a local resident as also the District Magistrates and other officials including the State directors of medical services were doing all these days.
Incidentally, the Chief Minister herself holds the Health portfolio assisted by State Health Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya. Curiously, Bhattacharya had a couple of days ago given angry reactions to the media men saying she had no information of the disease taking alarming proportion when asked as to what the Government was doing about the encephalitis deaths.
Banerjee also would not spare a word on whether Bhattacharya had tried to gather information on the situation after being alerted by the media. There was considerable foment in the area about the Chief Minister not visiting the hospitals despite being in Darjeeling a few days ago when leaders from other Opposition parties were visiting the area on a regular basis.
Villages after villages in Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar, Alipurduar and plains of Darjeeling districts complained of the mystery fever spreading rapidly, Health Department sources said adding there was a severe lack of medical kits and other facilities to accommodate and treat the patients. In fact, both the BJP and the Congress had raised the issue in lok Sabha early this week with Darjeeling MP SS Ahluwalia and Congress MP from Behrampore requesting the Centre immediately rush in help to the State.
The State also had a few days ago requested the Centre to rush in help to tackle the grave situation.
The Government was planning to get rid of the piggeries “even if it means buying off and culling the animals”, Banerjee said. The State has about 1 lakh such piggeries.
Meanwhile, giving a strong reaction against the State Government for allowing the situation to deteriorate, Bengal BJP chief Rahul Sinha on Friday said the “apathy on the part of the Government had led to a procession of deaths in the State” and demanded the resignation of the Health Minister. “lack of action and not the lack of facilities have led to the grim situation”, he alleged while Opposition leader wondered “whether making a scapegoat of three senior officers who had been fighting the situation all these while ignoring the Government’s apathy would be of any help.”