Officials hiding prevalence of Chikungunya in Chennai, suburbs, says CPM Councillor

Chennai, December 31:
CPM Councillor Devi on Thursday charged that the Chennai Corporation was deliberately hiding the prevalence of deadly mosquito-borne disease Chikungunya in city as well as in suburbs.
Speaking at the Corporation Council Meet held at Ripon Building here, Devi said, “Though the government announced that Chikungunya menace had been arrested fully by its stern measures, the deadly disease is still prevailing in Chennai and its suburban areas unabated.”

Coming down heavily on hiding the grim reality to public, the Councillor said, “When people suffering from symptoms of Chikungunya and reach government hospitals and private clinics for treatment, the doctors prescribe some painkillers to the patients and systematically avoid recording their fever as Chikungunya just to maintain the government stand of no prevalence of such disease in the state.”
Stressing that there is no benefit in hiding it from public as it will come to haunt the government sometime later, she demanded the Chennai Corporation to form a special team to roll out measures to contain its spread in civic body’s limit.
Earlier, when the meet began in the morning, Devi reached the house in a wheel chair and dressed like Chikungunya-affected patient to show the official apathy.
Later speaking to Express, Devi said, “I receive about 10 complaints of Chikungunya everyday from different places in Chennai like Periamet, Kolathur and Perambur, but every other patient whom I met says that doctors clearly avoid registering it as the deadly disease to toe the government line.”
Replying to her allegations, Mayor M Subramanian categorically denied any prevalence of such disease in city or suburbs. He further said that the civic body took the matter of mosquito menace seriously and increased its operations to wipe out them through new techniques.