Accusing the Telangana government of hiding data on dengue deaths, BRS working president KT Rama Rao said on Monday that given the high number of cases it was time to declare a health emergency in the state.

The former municipal administration and urban development minister called out the Congress government after the director of public health and family welfare Ravinder Nayek stated that Telangana reported a total of 4,648 cases of dengue between 1 January to 21 August but with no fatalities.

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Two days ago, Rao had pointed out in a post on social media platform ‘X’ that five dengue deaths had been reported and urged the chief secretary to ensure “intense sanitation drives” in villages and towns, a massive awareness campaign, and availability of blood platelets. The office of Health Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha responded with a statement claiming that none of the deaths were caused by dengue.

The statement claimed that the “seasonal increase in diseases during August and September, due to rains and increased vector density, is being addressed with an action plan and continuous monitoring”.

However, citing newspaper reports to claim otherwise, Rao, taking to X, said, “Government says that there are no dengue deaths in the state!! Meanwhile, newspapers reported five deaths the day before and three today. Who is hiding the data and why?”

Rao, popularly known as KTR, also alleged that the state-run hospitals were struggling to meet the demand for adequate beds and medicines and urged the chief secretary to declare a health emergency to cope with dengue. He said, “Hospitals have no adequate medicines and in most hospitals, 3-4 people are sharing a bed! Time to admit there is a serious problem and declare a health emergency.”

Meanwhile, the director of public health has identified ten high-risk districts with the highest number of dengue cases. Hyderabad leads the pack with 1697 cases, followed by Suryapet, Medchal-Malkajgiri, Khammam, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy, Jagtial, Sangareddy and Warangal.

The BRS working president and his team have been consistently and effectively putting the Congress government on the backfoot with their criticism on issues like loan waiver, industry outreach, the Valmiki scam in Karnataka, and linking it with the Lok Sabha election in Telangana and the increasing number of dengue cases.