32 districts of Bihar under Kalazar grip

Patna, Apr 17: Union Rural Devlopment Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has claimed that about 32 districts of Bihar were in the grip of Kalazar.

Mr Singh, in a fax message to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar yesterday, expressed his concern over the spreading of deadly fever and requested him to take immediate steps for its eradication.

Referring to a data projected by specialists of Kalazar, Mr Singh said more than 50,000 people mostly from backward classes and dalits were suffering from the disease which calims over 10,000 people every year.

He also referred to his two earlier letters about the concern of the fever, a tropical disease caused by the parasitic protozoan, Leishmania donovani, which is transmitted to man by sandflies.

He said there was Central fund to combat the disease and about 2000 tonne of DDT and medicines worth Rs. 14 crore had so far dispatched to the state.

The non-spray of DDT was like a criminal negligence on part of the Nitish government, the Union opined.

Mr Singh suggested Mr Kumar to get the DDT sprayed at least twice till June this year and requested him to set up medical camps for treatment in the worst affected localities.

The other suggestions including arrangement for mobile medical vans, supply of medicines, nutritious food and Kalazar eradication drive be monitored every month.

UNI