35 cases in Ward 72 alone

The residents, however, hotly deny it.

Bawaj Kamat, a resident of 25/4 Chakraberia Road South, who had recently suffered a bout of malaria, said the civic authorities are yet to visit his home and conduct fogging operations.

8220;Many malaria cases have been reported from this locality and although none of them were fatal, the authorities did not visit any of the homes,8221; he said. 8220;Now my nephew has contracted the disease.8221;

Most residents say the KMC officials have not visited the area in a year. Rajesh Yadav, another resident, said people in the slums are furious about the civic body8217;s negligence.

8220;Almost every family has suffered from malaria. We go for blood tests, take medicines and recover and then someone else in the family falls ill and the cycle starts again,8221; he said.

Most worry that it is only a matter of time before someone succumbs to the disease. Many of the slum dwellers who had been afflicted with malaria have already left for their villages in Bihar.

Councillor Sachidananda Banerjee confirmed that the KMC is yet to take any action in the area. 8220;The authorities have not visited the ward and taken control of the situation. Neither do they come for spraying. There have been 25 cases of malaria, including malignant malaria and three cases of dengue in the ward, but there has been no positive response from the authorities,8221; said Banerjee.

For now, the health officials at the KMC clinic are only too thankful that no case of dengue has been detected in the area.