Bengaluru: With the city recording 457 dengue cases from January till today, the BBMP continues to face a massive setback in controlling dengue in the city and rains continue to be a cause of worry.
“The dengue cases had come down earlier for sometime because of the dry spell,” says Dr Naveen Kumar, Mosquito Control Officer, BBMP. But with showers lashing the city the BBMP’s efforts are getting a bashing. Speaking about the measures taken to control the dreaded ‘D’, the BBMP points out that there is a potential block in their efforts because of mosquitoes that are breeding indoors.
“During rains the numbers would certainly increase but people are requested to take precautions inside their houses because that is where mosquitoes breed in large numbers. We have asked our DHOs to take up awareness drives and step up the door-to-door campaigns,” adds Dr Manoranjan Hegde, Chief Medical Officer, BBMP.
The BBMP has ordered its health workers from across the city to visit at least 50 houses every day to check for water accumulation and other risk factors associated with the disease and educate the people about dengue.
Last week witnessed some 200 dengue cases and in another week the city added another 100 cases, thus raising eyebrows.
“As of now 457 dengue cases have been reported within the BBMP limits and we have intensified our awareness drive along with the larvae survey project,” says Dr Manoranjan Hegde, Chief Medical Officer, BBMP, who adds, “the areas have been identified and we are trying to improvise on our methods to tackle the mosquito menace.”
Campaigns
To tackle this issue of door-to-door campaigns and awareness, the BBMP is engaging non-governmental organisations and active volunteer participation. “Our employees are often not allowed to enter houses. Hence we have taken due notice of this issue and now we are going to engage NGOs and volunteers who would carry out the awareness programs and door-to- door campaigns,” informs Dr Hegde.
Also, health officers from the respective primary healthcare centres have been asked to inspect residential complexes and work on source reduction under the larvae survey program.
“However, we need public participation too. The approach needs to be wholesome to tackle the menace and hence people residing in apartments and houses need to be proactive themselves,” adds Dr Hegde.
Dr Hegde explains, “The major constraint that we are facing in terms of control is that our indoor campaign is suffering a setback as people do not allow our team to enter their houses for the door-to-door survey.”
‘Maintain cleanliness’
He adds that indoor mosquitoes that breed inside flower pots, old baskets and drums are a major cause for the increase in the number. People should maintain cleanliness indoors and keep a check on the places where rainwater can get collected.
Vulnerable areas
On the huge spurt, Dr Manoranjan Hegde said, “BBMP has identified key core areas which are reporting a high number of cases and in these epidemic areas we are carrying out fogging and source reduction.
“Areas such as CV Raman Nagar, Vijaynagar, Mahadevapura, Jayanagar, Shivajinagar, Vartur, Rajajinagar and Mahalakshmipuram have seen a sudden increase in the number of cases. We are proactively engaging source detection and carrying out fogging.”
