Civic body, industries trade charges over dengue outbreak

With dengue situation remaining critical here, Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) today issued show cause notice to a newsprint manufacturing unit in Jagatpur Industrial Estate for allegedly causing public nuisance by keeping its premises unhygienic.
The number of dengue patients at government-run Sriram Chandra Bhanj Medical College and Hospital crossed 100. The conditions of five of them are stated to be critical, hospital officials said.
On the other hand, business units of the industrial estate are accusing CMC of ignoring civic amenities.
After the dengue outbreak in Jagatpur and death of a casual worker of the newsprint making unit in the disease, CMC commissioner Gyana Das, accompanied by the district collector, visited the estate today to take stock of the situation. Both the officials expressed concern over the unhygienic conditions prevailing there.

"We have issued a show-cause notice to M/s Cusboard Industries asking it to explain as to why the unit shall not be ordered to shut down for causing public nuisance in keeping its premises unclean and unhygienic," Das said, adding the dengue patient, who died during treatment in SCB Hospital, was an employee of this unit.
Units in the Industrial Estate, which comes under Ward-49 of the CMC, however, alleged that the area gets a raw deal from the civic body.
Since the industrial units do not pay holding tax, the CMC never bothers to take up civic amenities here neglecting the roads, drains, and sewerage and street lights, they claim.

"Although, we try to keep our units tidy, there are over hundred closed units here, which are the real breeding grounds of mosquitoes," alleged Odisha Industries Association vice president Rajesh Kanungo, who has his manufacturing unit inside the estate.