Cutbona has been hit by dengue in the past, and according to locals, four villagers had been admitted to hospitals on suspicion of dengue. From the four, two are a woman and her daughter-in-law, who have been admitted to GMC, Bambolim, while the other two persons have been admitted to private hospitals.
Velim sarpanch Melvin Sanchez and deputy sarpanch Veena Cardozo have criticized the Health Department for their failure to control the spread of dengue and recalled how locals had suffered badly due to the disease.
Incidentally, the issue of migrant labourers employed in the fishing industry had come up at last Sunday’s gram sabha. Locals believe that the unhygienic living conditions of the workers have led to the spread of dengue. In the past, labourers had also contracted dengue, while multiple inspections by authorities had found breeding sites of mosquitoes.
However, Balli primary health centre officials, who carried out the fogging, said they had not received any information about confirmed cases, and they were monitoring the situation.
The villagers are still upset, and some have already shifted to their relatives’ houses to avoid contracting dengue.
They have complained that for the last several years, they have been calling for better checks, such as issuing health cards to migrant labourers working on fishing boats.
“The Fisheries Department and the Health Department are supposed to have a screening programme for the labourers, but it is not happening,” said a villager, who also criticised the panchayat for not pursuing the matter strongly.
It may be recalled that a few years ago, a woman had died after contracting dengue, and since then, the disease is an extremely sensitive topic in the village.
