Dengue crisis peaks at VNIT as prof dies, 58 students test positive

Nagpur: The Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), at Abhyankar Nagar, has been severely hit by dengue. Mathematics professor Virendra Avsathi, residing in VNIT premises, reportedly died due to dengue on Sunday morning at Meditrina Hospital. Over 58 students too have tested positive for the disease, as per VNIT sources.

Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), which always claims to take preventive measures against vector-borne diseases, is unaware of the outbreak in VNIT premises.

NMC officials said they have been performing regular inspections at organizations citing 3-4 dengue cases. They also claim to have issued notices to organizations on finding stagnant water in their premises. On enquiring, a senior official from NMC said they had come across two positive cases from VNIT a month ago, and that's all they knew.

VNIT director Narendra Chaudhari said, "The medical clinic of VNIT had sent all blood samples to a pathology lab. The clinic has kept tabs on the reports, and total 58 cases have reported positive for dengue."

Chaudhari said, "Soon after Dussehra, we started getting positive cases, as one of the girls fell ill. She has been a topper and an athlete too. Even with good immunity, she suffered a lot as her kidney began to dysfunction. For 21 days she was on ventilator, but fortunately she survived."

VNIT had then begun to cut down trees, to prevent water logging and stop further spread of dengue. Chaudhari said, "There are about 50 old trees in a clump around the hostels, where water logging generally occurs in the rainy season. Some trees completely lean on the hostel building, where mosquitoes generally breed. We began to cut the trees, with a plan to plant trees with thin trunks."

He said, "On October 19, we received a notice from NMC to stop the work. This was the time three of our students were on ventilator. We then wrote a letter to NMC's garden department for permission to cut down the remaining trees, but there has been no response over the last 15 days."

"Now, after the death on Sunday morning, who should be held responsible? The professor used to live in faculty quarters situated right beside the hostel. Four days ago, another faculty member from electronic department too had to be admitted," he said, reiterating that VNIT had already raised the issue but is not getting a response from NMC.

However, green activist Swanand Soni said, "Branches of some trees lean after growing, stopping sun rays from reaching the ground. Mosquitoes tend to concentrate in such areas. The need is to trim such branches. Cutting the trees is not the solution."