Thaindian News

By Rajeev Ranjan Dwivedi
New Delhi, May 15 (IANS) October will see hordes of foreign visitors for the Commonwealth Games, it will also be peak dengue season. The capital’s civic authorities are now gearing up big time to check the mosquito menace.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is well aware that the chances of mosquito breeding have increased due to large-scale construction activities all across the capital.

“There are maximum chances of mosquito breeding in view of large-scale constructions in the city, but we are aware of it. We have a surveillance team at every construction site for checking,” municipal health officer N.K. Yadav told IANS.

He said the civic body began a public awareness campaign against mosquito breeding in February and deployed 3,500 domestic breeding checkers in April, well ahead of schedule.

He said keeping in mind that the Games Village site is near the Akshardham Temple in East Delhi on the banks of the river Yamuna, an area which is prone to mosquito breeding, the MCD has begun spraying and fumigating the area.

Also, MCD officials feel that congested areas besides unauthorised colonies might pose “difficulty” for the civic body in its bid to put the situation under control in October.

“Several departments like sanitation and also Delhi Jal Board have been shot off letters to take measures while collecting water and cleaning drainage,” Yadav said.

At a recent meeting on how to check the spread of diseases during the Games scheduled for Oct 3-14, Municipal Commissioner K.S. Mehra said attention should be paid to unauthorised colonies where the maximum number of cases are reported.

He also asked the irrigation and flood control department and the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation to ensure the free flow of water in these colonies.

Prem Lata Kataria, the MCD’s director of primary education, said: “Over 1,000 nodal teachers have been designated in the civic body’s schools to coordinate efforts for prevention and control of vector and water-borne diseases.”

In the post-monsoon phase, dengue and malaria claim nearly 30 lives in the city and around 1,000 people are infected every year on an average.

Officials said to tackle malaria and dengue during the Games, the MCD is also contemplating circulating advisories among visitors to encourage the use of mosquito repellants.

However, the Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) are not happy with what the civic body is currently doing to make sure that nobody is inflicted with dengue or malaria during the Games.

“They are organising some camps in the locality for public awareness but the whole process seems to be inadequate, considering the fact that the whole city has been dug up for the Games. Even domestic breeding checkers have not visited the area,” said Atul Goyal, general secretary of the Karol Bagh RWA.

Goyal said keeping in mind the prestige of the country, the civic body should remain alert, start a door-to-door campaign to check mosquito breeding and clean up the choked drains.

In infrastructure-related works, the MCD is engaged in flyover construction, pavement beautification and in improving basic civic amenities during the mega-sporting event.

(Rajeev Ranjan Dwivedi can be contacted at rajeev.r@ians.in)