At least 50 people have died of malaria in the hilly and interior areas of Tripura's Dhalai district in the past month, official sources said here today.
Two helicopters were pressed into service for emergency landing of health teams in the malaria-affected villages, they said.Health Minister Tapan Chakraborty told reporters that he had directed top officials of the health department to rush teams and medicines to the region. The state government was was making the best possible efforts to tackle the situation, he said.
Lalit Tripura, a CPI-M member of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomus District Council (TTAADC) who hails from Gandacherra sub-division of Dhalai district, said all 19 villages in TTAADC areas were affected by malaria.
Rabindra Debbarma, general secretary of the opposition Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT), however, alleged that at least 100 people had died in Gandacherra sub-division in the past month and the government did not take proper steps to tackle the situation.
