4 Hospitals Challaned for Mosquito-Genic Premises By the Delhi Municipal Corporation

New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) issues challans to four hospitals in the city after dengue mosquitoes were found breeding on their premises."We have issued challans to four hospitals, namely, AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, RML Hospital and Lady Hardinge Hospital after their premises were found to be breeding ground for mosquitoes," said a senior NDMC official.

The action has been taken after the city was recorded with the maximum number of dengue deaths in the country. Around 277 dengue cases have been recorded for the first two weeks of August only.

The Ministries of Finance and Home Affairs, Bihar Bhawan, Sikkim Bhawan and Uttarakhand Bhawan have been issued challans by the council for mosquito-genic conditions on their premises. Similar conditions were also found at five embassies, namely, Ghana, Ethiopia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Czech Republic, but no challans have been issued to them.

"We do not have the authority to conduct any check in the embassy premises. After obtaining permission from these five embassies we had sent our inspection team to test suspected mosquito breeding on their campuses but the protocol doesn’t permit us to issue any challan or notice to them," he added.

The other three institutions which have been issued challans are Mount Caramel School, the National Building Construction Corporation Limited and India Islamic Cultural Center.

"We have issued a total of 115 challans this season for mosquito breeding inside institutions and households and served 2,700 notices. During the inspection, if the premises are tested positive for mosquito breeding, they are issued notices. But if no improvement is found in the hygiene conditions during the next inspection, the defaulters are issued challans," said the official.

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) had also issued 80 challans to government and educational institutions in the city, including JNU, DDA, DTC and PWD.

Dengue is a vector-borne disease which is transmitted by several species of mosquito within the genus Aedes. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles. There is no cure for this disease and if patients use medicines indiscriminately they may become resistant to it.

Source-Medindia