Chennai, Sep 24 (IANS) AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami has accused the Tamil Nadu government of failing to act quickly against the spread of dengue, saying hospitals are under pressure and residents need immediate protection.
In a statement, Palaniswami alleged that the TVK government’s failure to take preventive measures had allowed cases to rise across the state. Government and private hospital beds were filling up, he said, calling for treatment facilities and mosquito control work to be expanded urgently.
Citing health department figures, he said Tamil Nadu had recorded 17,348 dengue cases and 4,653 scrub typhus cases as of September 21. Seventy-one dengue cases were confirmed on September 21 alone, according to the figures cited in his statement.
Palaniswami said the government had ignored warnings from the public and the media about dengue. He also accused it of trying to shift attention from public health concerns after the death of a student at Anna University by focusing on the student’s reported scrub typhus infection.
He criticised state Health Minister Arunraj for missing a meeting chaired by the Director of Public Health on measures to contain dengue. A public awareness video was no substitute for action on the ground, Palaniswami said, alleging that the minister was concentrating on election campaigning.
The AIADMK leader disputed the minister’s claim that dengue cases were lower than in previous years.
He said infections had risen sharply compared with the first 20 days of September 2025 and accused the minister of relying on figures from other periods to present a misleading picture.
Palaniswami urged the government to ensure that patients admitted with dengue receive timely treatment and that hospitals have enough medicines, beds and doctors. He called for frequent medical camps and household visits on every street to identify and remove places where mosquitoes breed.
He said mosquito control and sanitation work had been stepped up early during previous AIADMK administrations, helping prevent infections and deaths. The government should now intensify its response on an emergency footing, he said, both to curb transmission and to address public anxiety.
He also asked officials to issue clear instructions for field teams to inspect neighbourhoods and eliminate breeding sites.
–IANS
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