MCD steps up measures to combat dengue, chikungunya

New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) Amid rising cases of dengue andchikungunya in the national capital, the civic bodies in Delhihave stepped up preventive measures by hiking the number offield workers, distribution of special mosquito nets andawareness programmes in schools. The South Delhi Municipal Corporation has deployedadditional 900 field workers for carrying out vector-bornedisease control measures in its areas, a senior SDMC officialsaid. Out of the total 311 dengue cases reported till August 20,SDMC has reported 47 cases, while East Delhi and North DelhiMunicipal Corporations have recorded 16 and 10 casesrespectively. Four persons have died due to the disease so far,though the MCD has acknowledged only two fatalities. "Chikungunya cases have suddenly increased in the city butpeople should not get alarmed as the disease anyway is notlife-threatening though preventive measures must be taken, andwe are raising awareness among the citizens. "We have already distributed 1.2 lakh impregnated mosquitonets (laced with special chemical) to people. Our DBCs (denguebreeding checkers) are regularly inspecting households andother places for checking mosquito-breeding. Dengue cases thisyear, I guess, would not be as big as it was last year, so weneed just more preventive measures," North Delhi Mayor SanjeevNayyar said. Out of the total dengue cases reported this season in thenational capital, nearly 192 were recorded in the first threeweeks of August. At AIIMS laboratories which get blood samples from Delhiand other parts of the country, 362 samples have testedpositive for chikungunya from July to August 20. East Delhi Standing Committee Chairman Jitender Chaudharysaid a proposal has been mooted to include ‘nala beldars’,workers who clean small nullahs before monsoon, in the DBCteam, to address the shortage of manpower in this area. "We have 710 DBCs and they conduct inspections regularlyof coolers and rooftop water tanks in households. Forchikungunya and dengue, we are doing regular awarenessprogrammes, especially in schools, and move is to includeprivate aided schools in the list. Besides, we are planning tohold discussions with RWAs and marketing associations aboutthis," he said. PTI KND DIP RGDIP