EDMC can't avoid dengue spread

Two of four fogging machines dont work

The East Delhi Municipal Corporation is not fully prepared to control the dengue menace in the Capital, although cases of the vector-borne disease are rising.

Two out of four big machines used for fogging mosquito repellent are not working. Instead, spray pumps — such as the ones used in barber shops are being used for the purpose.

Both the broken machines were bought five years ago. They have been demanding repair for a long time, and should have been sent for that in the beginning of the season. This did not happen.

An official said two new machines bought in 2010 are working. “Two of our machines are working. For our area even one is enough. The broken machines have been sent for repair and will be functional in a week,” said EDMC medical health officer Dr K K Choudhury.

He said EDMC has 125 ‘Ganesh pumps’, small pumps used for spraying in houses; 100 hand-held pumps, which are a little bigger, and four big pumps called the ‘tiffa machines’.

The issue was also raised in a recent meeting of the EDMC malaria committee, where it was told that one of the old machines doesn’t work at all, while the other works intermittently. They are kept in storage due to their bad shape. Two machines were bought for each zone five years ago.

The meeting acknowledged that barber’s spray pumps are being used for fogging due to lack of working equipment.

SDMC calls for action

South Corporation commissioner Manish Gupta has written to the heads of educational institutes — government and autonomous — to take preventive measures against dengue in their offices and institutions. He asked nodal officers to ensure that preventive measures are adopted by each institute, and their names, addresses and phone numbers are sent to the SDMC health officer.

Any agency found failing in taking specified preventive measures against dengue will be fined Rs 500 under the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Malaria and Other Vector Borne Diseases) By-Laws, 1975, said the letter.