the goan I network
VASCO
Barely a month after a dengue outbreak in and around a Chicalim school had claimed the life of a schoolkid, another outbreak of dengue has gripped Voddant-Vasco with about 10 cases being reported and another five are suspected to have contracted the dreaded disease.
A councillor and locals suspect that the outbreak may have originated from the nearby Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL), after an inspection team had recently found mosquito breeding sites
in stagnant water in tanks and at construction sites in the GSL.
Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) Ward councillor Nandadeep Raut, who inspected the affected area of Voddant on Monday, informed reporters that there are already 10-12 cases of dengue in the area.
“The other suspected cases of dengue have created an alarm among locals,”
he said.
Alleging that stagnant water at the GSL was the cause for the dengue cases, Raut said: “Despite several visits by Vasco Health Officer Dr Rashmi Khandeparkar to GSL and a subsequent notice by the MMC chief officer,
the GSL had not cleared
stagnant water from construction sites.”
“About half of the labourers engaged in GSL construction activities were without valid health cards and some labourers engaged by the GSL contractor had even got dengue.”
“I had inspected the area along with a MMC junior engineer during pre-monsoon works, when the engineers pointed out a lot of stagnant water in the Goa Shipyard Ltd. They had said it was important to take precautionary measures to prevent dengue and I intimated the MMC chief officer and health officer. A notice from the health officer was
then sent to the Goa Shipyard Ltd.”
“The health officer has visited Goa Shipyard Ltd 8 times. It’s time authorities get together and take preventive steps to stop the dengue outbreak,” said Raut.
