Varanasi Municipal Corporation Stays Inactive as Dengue Threat Looms Large

The health authorities of Varanasi Municipal Corporation claim that fogging has been started in the city to prevent the spread of vector-borne diseases, particularly dengue and malaria. Despite several cleanliness drives, mosquito menace continues to haunt the city residents. To prevent mosquito bite people are relying on mosquito repellents and other household method. No anti-mosquito measures have been taken by the concerned authorities despite several cases of dengue reported at hospitals.

"I have been reading about the influx of dengue suspected patients at government hospitals for over a month now. There is a fear of outbreak of vector-borne diseases the lack of sanitation provides several ideal places for mosquito breeding. But the VMC has not taken any steps to prevent the growth of mosquitoes. No fogging or anti-larval sprays have been carried out in our locality," said Sushma Advani of Bhelupur area. "The VMC authorities are not carrying out fogging drive in our ward. The unclean surroundings have become a breeding ground for mosquitoes," said a resident Rajat Amrohi.

It is to be recalled that there was a dengue outbreak in Kotwa village in September and a large number of patients from the village were being reported at Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) District Hospital and Sri Shiv Prasad Gupta (SSPG) Divisional Hospital with dengue symptoms.

In Kotwa village in September after the outbreak of dengue health department had initiated fogging drive and anti-larval sprays but no measures were taken by the civic body to check spread of mosquitoes in the city.

According to VMC authorities, two new fogging machines were purchased recently."Initially there were two big fogging machines but two small fogging machines were purchased recently solving the problem of resources crunch. Besides, the corporation owns as many as 14 bicycle-mounted machines for the wards so that fogging can be done if complaints are received from specific wards complaining of mosquito breeding and menace," said an official. Ample amount of 'king fog' chemical, used for pest control, is also available with us, he added.

Source-Medindia