The dengue outbreak in West Bengal has significantly worsened, with over 50,000 cases reported. While the health department has not officially released data on dengue-related fatalities, unofficial estimates place the toll at around 60.

However, BJP legislators such as Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, claim that the death toll has surpassed 100, citing several cases in which dengue deaths were reported as "death due to unknown fever." Insiders in the health department are concerned that, given the current situation, the upcoming Durga Puja festival will be held in the shadow of the dengue outbreak.

North 24 Parganas is the Dengue Hotspot

According to health department statistics, the worst affected area is North 24 Parganas, with a total of 11,244 cases reported to date. Kolkata, the state capital, comes in second with 6,070 cases, and Murshidabad comes in third with 5,791 cases.

Other districts severely impacted by the outbreak include South 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Howrah, and Malda. At the beginning of this month, a Public Interest Litigation was filed in the Calcutta High Court, seeking its intervention in ensuring proper administrative measures to curb the further spread of the disease.

This PIL was filed as the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry accused the West Bengal Health Department of concealing the actual figures related to the number of affected individuals and deaths. Conversely, the state government accused the Union government of denying the necessary financial assistance in this regard.