After concealing pollution data, Delhi’s four-engine BJP government is now hiding the city’s dengue, malaria, and chikungunya figures as well. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), controlled by the BJP, released its latest report on November 3—three weeks after the previous one on October 6—revealing 300 new dengue cases, 200 malaria cases, and 60 chikungunya cases. Shockingly, the report makes no mention of deaths caused by these seasonal diseases, raising serious questions about data suppression.
Senior AAP leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the MCD House, Ankush Narang, on Tuesday slammed the BJP for its negligence, stating that the surge in dengue and malaria could have been prevented had the government stopped MTS workers from going on strike.
MCD LoP Ankush Narang on Tuesday said the BJP deliberately concealed MCD’s disease reports for three weeks, during which cases of malaria, dengue, and chikungunya surged alarmingly. “After the last report was released on October 6, the next report came out only on November 3. In this short span of less than a month, nearly 200 new malaria cases, 300 dengue cases, and 60 chikungunya cases have been recorded,” Ankush Narang said.
The MCD LoP said this was a deliberate attempt by the BJP to hide critical health information from the public. “The BJP government has not run a single awareness campaign against these diseases. During Arvind Kejriwal’s tenure, the ‘10 Hafte, 10 Minute, 10 Sunday’ campaign educated citizens to remove stagnant water around plants, animals, and rooftops, clean tanks regularly, and prevent mosquito breeding. But the BJP has not conducted any such campaign throughout the year, and the result is an alarming spike in cases. This year, Delhi is witnessing the highest number of malaria and chikungunya cases in the last five years,” he stated.
Ankush Narang also highlighted that the MCD’s multi-tasking staff (MTS) employees, who play a crucial role in disease prevention, were on strike for 33 days — from September 29 to November 1. “Even after the strike ended, the BJP-led MCD hid the report to cover up its failure. The people of Delhi have suffered because of this. This week alone, two deaths have been reported, for which the BJP is fully responsible,” he said.
The MCD LoP further stated that several deaths and infection cases have been concealed and not entered into the report. “The BJP should be ashamed of hiding reports, ignoring employee strikes, and failing to run awareness campaigns. Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh has neither a plan nor any effort to educate citizens,” Ankush Narang said.
