Malaria, dengue have a free run in civic official's absence

Faced with increasing cases of malaria and dengue in Navi Mumbai, members of the standing committee on Wednesday gunned for the head of the official in-charge of malaria and dengue control programme of the civic body.Raising the matter during discussions, NCP’s Vaibhav Gaikwad, alleged, “Malaria and dengue is on a rise in the city and the official responsible for controlling this, Dayanand Katke, is on leave. Whenever cases of malaria and dengue rise, Katke goes on leave.”His colleague, Vikram Shinde, said, “Standing committee is of the opinion that such officers should be suspended with immediate effect.”Dr Ramesh Nikam, in-charge of the health department, clarified that he was not shielding any official and said, “Katke was served a show cause notice last month. He had applied for a leave from November 6-30, which was rejected. He later applied for a leave from December 2-21, which was also rejected. He still went on his leave, and now we are in the process of preparing his report. Soon, the report will be submitted to the municipal commissioner.”Deputy municipal commissioner, JN Sinnarkar, said, “Once the report is placed by the in-charge of health department, it is for the commissioner to take action, as only the civic chief is authorised to take disciplinary action against the doctor.”Meanwhile, Dayanand Katke’s official cell number was switched off when dna of navi mumbai tried to contact him.Deadly biteFaced with increasing cases of malaria and dengue in Navi Mumbai, members of the standing committee on Wednesday gunned for the head of the official in-charge of malaria and dengue control programme of the civic bodyNCP’s Vaibhav Gaikwad, alleged, “Malaria and dengue is on a rise in the city and the official responsible for controlling this, Dayanand Katke, is on leave. Whenever cases of malaria and dengue rise, Katke goes on leave”