West Bengal Battles Rising Dengue Before Festival

A month‑long spike in dengue fever has put West Bengal on high alert weeks before the major Durga Puja celebrations. Health teams have identified fourteen gram panchayats and eight municipal entities—three corporations and five municipalities—as hotspots. Murshidabad accounts for most gram panchayat alerts, with additional spread across South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Jalpaiguri, Birbhum and Hooghly. In Kolkata Municipal Corporation, six wards; in Howrah Municipal Corporation, three wards; and in Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, four wards have reported sharp case increases. Municipalities such as Chakdaha (Nadia) and several areas in North 24 Parganas (Damdam, South Damdam, Kamarpukur, Baranagar) are also flagged. The state’s dengue count for 2026 is 10,177, down from 12,652 in 2025, yet the recent surge—3,948 cases in September and about 1,100 in the first week of October—remains concerning.