West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday claimed that dengue was spreading in the state from neighbouring Bangladesh and said necessary tests must be conducted at the border.
Speaking in the assembly, she said, "Dengue is spreading in West Bengal from Bangladesh. I can't prevent anyone from entering (from Bangladesh). But border surveillance should be increased and necessary tests must be conducted on those entering India from the neighbouring country."
When asked about the West Bengal administration mulling proposals to conduct tests on those entering the eastern state from Bangladesh, the neighbouring country's Information Minister Hasan Mahmud, who is in Kolkata currently, said his government has no problem with such a measure.
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"If as a precautionary measure, India wants to take these steps we have no objection. We are doing everything to tackle the problem of dengue in our country. During Covid period too, such measures were in place," he said.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary H K Dwivedi held a meeting with all the district magistrates and senior officials of the districts to review the preparedness to combat dengue in the monsoon season. This year, four people, including a 10-year-old girl from Kolkata’s Picnic Garden area, have died due to the disease.
