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Sourav Ganguly pulled up over mosquito breeding spot in home

This inspection by KMC officials came in the wake of Ganguly's elder brother Snehasish, a former Ranji Trophy player, being diagnosed with dengue

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Amid growing allegations by Opposition parties that the Trinamool Congress-led West Bengal government is trying to suppress figures of death due to dengue, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) served a notice to former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly on Friday over mosquito breeding spots.

KMC officials carried out an inspection at Ganguly's residence and found mosquito breeding spots and larvae in his backyard and other inaccessible portions of his house. KMC officials reached his residence on Friday and warned him with a notice to carry out dengue prevention drives.

This inspection by KMC officials came in the wake of Ganguly's elder brother Snehasish, a former Ranji Trophy player, being diagnosed with dengue. He was rushed to the hospital on November 23. Currently, Snehasish is undergoing treatment at a city hospital and doctors have confirmed that his health is improving.

This is not the first time that Ganguly was warned of getting rid of mosquito breeding grounds said member, mayor-in-council, KMC, Atin Ghosh. "We had found larvae of dengue mosquitoes at Ganguly's residence in Behala during our first inspection that was carried out on November 19, and had asked them to keep the place clean," Ghosh said adding, "But, on second inspection on November 23, KMC officials found that the situation remained same. Hence, as per rules applicable to all, we served a notice to him. In fact, we spoke to Ganguly and he has agreed to provide us support. Our KMC officials will carry out fumigation inside his residence."

This apart, while hearing a PIL, the Calcutta High Court came down heavily on the Bengal government. When the Advocate General Kishore Dutta representing the government remarked that the petition was politically motivated as one of the petitioners was Pradesh Congress President and Lok Sabha MP, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Justice Arijit Banerjee of the division bench said, "Whether it is politically motivated or not, you can't deny that dengue is social issue. We do not want to blame anybody. It is a social problem hence I am asking what steps have you taken?"

Another petitioner of the PIL, Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya said, "The government does not want to admit that people are dying due to dengue. Hence an unofficial diktat has been issued to government hospitals to not mention the cause of death as dengue and all of them are stating 'unknown fever' as a cause of death. We have requested the court to constitute an expert committee of doctors to advise the government."

The division bench comprising the acting chief Justice Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya and Justice Arijit Banerjee will again hear the same matter on next Friday.

Meanwhile, the state government continues to face flak from the opposition parties like Congress, Left and the BJP. Opposition parties have been alleging that the Trinamool Congress-led government is trying to suppress facts relating to dengue deaths.

However, state officials say that it is an attempt to malign the government as a lot of people are dying due to 'unknown fever' but it is being said that they are dying due to dengue.

According to the state health department, there have been 24 dengue deaths in West Bengal since January though the unofficial figure stands close to 50.

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