The Centre has promised to fulfil almost half of the resources that the Karnataka government requires to fight Chikungunya this year.

While the state has asked for Rs 447 lakh, the Union Health Minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss has assured Rs 200 lakh for each of the nine-affected states including Karnataka.

The announcement came at the end of a review meeting where Dr Ramadoss took stock of the chikungunya situation in nine states.

He warned that the disease which came back with a vengeance last year after a gap of four decades, is likely to stay for three years.

However, the outbreak is limited this year. While 13.9 lakh suspected and 2001 confirmed cases were reported last year, only 17,000 suspected and 414 confirmed cases have been found till June, 2007, the minister informed.

He made it clear that fresh allocation for Karnataka will be released only after the state sends utilisation certificate for Rs 2.2 crore unspent money.

“We have received the money by the middle of March and could not spend the amount. The health minister has asked us to spend it in this fiscal. We will utilise it and send the certificate to the central ministry soon,” Ms Usha Ganesh, additional chief secretary of the state who represented Karnataka in the meeting .

Karnataka will have five new diagnostic laboratories in Bangalore, Mangalore, Shimoga, Kolar and Belgaum. The two existing centres are in NIMHANS in Bangalore and Vijayanagara Institute of Medical Sciences in Bellary.