Balasore: Around three dozen BJP activists were Monday detained by the police when they attempted to show black flags to health minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak over the state government’s alleged failure to contain dengue menace in the state.
“The police have detained some agitating members of the BJP as they tried to forcibly enter into the meeting venue of the minister,” Balasore SP Niti Sekhar told reporters.
Nayak had come here to take stock of the situation due to outbreak of diarrhoea, which has assumed alarming proportions in the district.
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Soon after his arrival, Nayak went to the medicine, paediatrics and infection wards of the district headquarters hospital (DHH) and interacted with patients.
Balasore MP Rabindra Jena, along with five MLAs of the district, Zilla Parishad chairperson and the district collector were present at the meeting.
“One of the best preventives against diarrhoea is clean environment. Besides, patients suffering from the water-borne disease should drink boiled water to ensure there is no contamination. What I found was, most of the diarrhoea patients are from Nilagiri and Oupada areas. I have advised them to take necessary precautions for their early cure,” the minister said.
Referring to the dengue situation in the state, Nayak said special provisions have been made in SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack for treatment of dengue patients.
“A special dengue ward has been opened in the hospital. Earlier, there were 50 beds in the ward, which has now been increased to 100. If necessary, we will add more beds considering the inflow of patients. A team of doctors has been put on duty in the ward round the clock for timely treatment of patients,” the minister said.
Keeping in view the spread of dengue in other districts, Nayak said the state government has formed a taskforce to bring the spread of the disease under control.
The BJP had earlier announced that ministers across the state would be shown black flags as a mark of protest against the attack on Union minister Santosh Gangwar’s convoy at Bargarh last month allegedly by the ruling BJD activists.
