Plans state-of-the-art lab costing Rs 50 lakh to test suspected cases

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will reach out to 20 lakh people in the next 10 days as part of its dengue awareness drive. It will also set up a laboratory on the lines of National Institute of Virology at a cost of Rs 50 lakh. Three ‘rapid test/cross test’ units will also be set up in the City. Replying to allegations by the Opposition parties that the Palike had failed to contain the spread of dengue, at the monthly Council meeting on Tuesday, BBMP Commissioner M K Shankarlinge Gowda admitted to the lapse and said he did not expect the disease to spread so fast.