Municipal agencies plan ahead to prevent dengue cases

With already three cases of dengue surfacing in the city, health experts said the civic bodies and the health department should take extra efforts in eradicating mosquito sources from an early stage.

“Three cases of dengue have been reported so far in this season. There has been no case of malaria till now,” said a senior official of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation.
With the capital receiving rain recently, the chances of dengue are likely to increase, said doctors. Water bodies are the greatest breeding grounds of mosquitoes.

Last year, there were 995 cases of dengue and three deaths in the capital.
“Civic bodies should plan ahead and eliminate mosquitoes from breeding grounds. With a dip in temperature, the chances of dengue will increase. It is better to wear full clothing and take precautions like using mosquito repellents or coils at night,” said Dr Anil Bansal, member of Delhi Medical Association.  

The New Delhi Municipal Council has already identified the zones most prone to turn out as breeding grounds of mosquitoes.

“Parks with ornamental fountains like Nehru Park, Lodhi Garden, Talkatora stadium and Sanjay Jheel Park have been identified as mosquito prone areas. With zero-tolerance to dengue, we have started preparing to eliminate the source of mosquito breeding,” said Dr P K Sharma, medical officer of health, NDMC.

The council is holding workshops to sensitise schoolchildren and teachers to take precautions against dengue. The council has procured new machines to spray pesticides effectively in all its areas.

“The action plan is to fight dengue, malaria and chikungunya. January to March is the preparatory phase. The plans will be implemented from April 1,” said Dr Sharma. The Directorate of Health Services, meanwhile, has not developed the action plan yet.

“We will hold meetings this week to check dengue and malaria cases in the capital,” said a senior health official, DHS.