Civic Body’s Move To Check Cholera
By a Staff Reporter, West Bengal’s Health Minister is stated to have assured Calcutta Corporation’s Deputy Mayor its Health Officer and the Chairman of the Standing Health Committee of the supply of 100,000 doses of cholera vaccine at present for inoculating citizens. The corporation has not have enough stock of it. The vaccine will be given to the people living in the bustees in the city.
The municipal representatives pleaded for the supply of 1 million doses and the Government promised to supply the desired quantity to check the disease Bleaching powder was another item which the representatives wanted to secure from the Government as also 500 tubewells for installation in the vulnerable areas. The representative assured the Minister of covering the bustees within 10 days except for the slums in some trouble-prone areas.
From January 1 to May 31 this year there were 21 attacks and 11 deaths from cholera in Calcutta against 594 attacks and 50 deaths during the corresponding period last year. While 656,552 people were inoculated against cholera during the period last year only 46,847 had been protected during the same period this year.
Because of the incidence of the disease in the refugee camps in the border areas and in the Salt Lake township and infiltration of people into the city from the affected zones the Mayor was particularly keen on protecting the citizens. He held meetings on Wednesday with representatives of the Calcutta Metropolitan Immunization Organization, a State Government organization for coordination of the inoculation drive.
The Mayor said that there were at present 400 inoculations but he would appoint more people on a temporary basis on the daily wage basis to tide over the crisis.
Reference: Hindustan Standard, 10.06.1971