Panchkula: Sanitation inspector succumbs to dengue; admin lax, say locals

According to details, the sanitary inspector was identified as one Abhishek Sharma, 23, a resident of Ratpur colony in Pinjore.

Abhishek Sharma (File)

A sanitary inspector of Kalka Municipal Council in Panchkula on Saturday succumbed to dengue at a private hospital, leading to outrage in the area and leading to at least one senior medical officer being transferred by the administration.

According to details, the sanitary inspector was identified as one Abhishek Sharma, 23, a resident of Ratpur colony in Pinjore.

Sharma, sources said, had been complaining of fever, headache and vomiting for some days.

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He was rushed to and admitted at a private hospital some days ago after his condition deteriorated. He died at the hospital during the course of treatment.

Panchkula has witnessed a drastic spike in number of dengue cases in the last two months, with prmarily the areas of Kalka, and Pinjore making up for around 75 per cent of all cases being reported.

On Saturday, Sharma’s death led to outrage in the area.

Kalka MLA, Pardeep Chaudhary, while talking to The Indian Express on Saturday, hit out at the apathy of the state and local health department officials in controlling the vector-borne disease.

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“I had met Haryana’s Director General of Health Services around two months ago to highlight the increasing number of dengue cases in Kalka and Pinjore. The condition of health infrastructure at government hospitals of Kalka and Pinjore is not very good. However, nothing was done by the administration.”

As per records, till the first week of September, a total 135 dengue cases had been reported from Panchkula.

Of these, more than 100 dengue cases had been reported from Pinjore and Kalka alone.

SMOs transferred

The Haryana government on Saturday transferred senior medical officer (SMO) of Kalka, Dr Rupinder Singh Saini, to Loharu in Bhiwani, and the SMO of Pinjore, Dr Rajesh Khyalia, to Nuh in Mewat.

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As per details, while SMO Sonu Arora was given the charge of SMO, Pinjore, Dr Rajiv Narwal, Civil Surgeon, Panchkula, was given the charge of SMO, Kalka.

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