alarm bells: More dengue breeding spots than households: Walia

Delhi Health Minister Dr A K Walia has directed officials of the municipal corporations and the Cantonment Board to step up efforts to contain vector-borne diseases, particularly dengue and malaria, after reports confirmed that the density of mosquito breeding spots was higher than the average housing index in many areas in the Capital.

Reviewing the city's dengue situation, Walia said the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme's anti-larval cross-checking reports state that density of breeding spots remains high in several areas, despite preventive measures such as fumigation.

"Against the average house index of 7.4, the breeding spot density is 10 in Sangam Vihar, 12 in Uttam Nagar (Pankha Road), 18 in Mehrauli, 14 in Jharoda Dairy and 20 in the Delhi Cantonment area," a statement from the minister's office said.

Health officials of the municipal corporations were told to particularly focus their anti-mosquito measures on water tanks placed on rooftops of high-rise buildings and those at construction sites because maximum mosquito breeding has been reported from these places.

Walia said builders must precautions to ensure that construction sites were rid of spots, such as stagnant water and open tanks, that aid mosquito breeding.

The report set off alarm bells among the officials as the city has already been on an alert over the steady rise in the number of dengue cases this season. So far, the corporations have issued 7,000 challans to commercial establishments and 81,658 notices to households after breeding spots were detected in those places.

Maximum challans were issued in South Delhi, health officials said.

Walia, who had asked blood banks to make platelets available round the clock for dengue patients, said the reports were satisfactory on this front.

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