'Dengue' death sparks tension at Tata facility

BHUBANESWAR: Tension prevailed at Tata Steel facility inside Kalinganagar industrial complex in Jajpur district following death of a worker from suspected dengue on Monday.
Trilochan Mahant, 30, who worked inside the premises, was undergoing treatment at SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack. Though hospital sources said he had tested positive for the vectorborne disease on Sunday, the government is yet to confirm it as dengue death.
Sukinda Jan Sangathan, a local people's outfit, staged a demonstration in front of the company, demanding adequate compensation to the next of the kin of the deceased.
Health minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, who reviewed dengue situation in the state, said, "Most cases are pouring in from Jajpur district. Tata Steel, which reported high concentration of cases, has been asked to take adequate steps," he said. Over 450 people have tested positive for dengue in the district.
With 50 to 100 people testing positive for dengue almost every day in the last one week, it has become a serious health concern. Sixty-one people tested positive for the disease on Monday, taking the total to 1,061, government sources said.
Tata Steel, in a statement said, to prevent spread of dengue it has formed a 60-member team headed by an entomologist. A fogging machine, specially brought from Jamshedpur, has been pressed into service at Kalinganagar plant site and its periphery. The machine mounted on a truck has covered the plant site, labour colonies, and rehabilitation colonies of Tata Steel at Gobarghati, Trijanga, Sansailo and independent rehabilitation at Ramathenga, the statement said.
Besides, all workers and line mangers are using mosquito repellant cream before work. Mass cleaning of various sites inside the plant is being carried out on a regular basis, it added.