Thiruvananthapuram: Mayor V.K. Prasanth said that panchayat wards managed by health departments reported the most cases of dengue outbreak.
He was responding to health secretary Rajeev Sadanandan’s statement that the wards being managed by Corporation were worst in battling dengue.
The mayor demanded an increased synergy between the corporation and health department officials in anti-dengue cases.
As per the mayor, Pallichal and Karakulam panchayats are the worst hit with 300 and 100 dengue cases being reported. “Of the 3,000 dengue cases, 1,900 were reported in the city. However, 30 per cent of the population in the district resides in the 214 square kilometre limits of the city. Also it is not fair to consider NS 1 positive method as a way to confirm dengue cases. Even viral fevers are wrongly reported as dengue leading to a panic situation,” the mayor said in a statement.
The data of Directorate of Health Services (DHS) reveal that Vattiyoorkavu corporation wards top in dengue with 64 cases being reported in the past 7 weekdays. Nemom corporation ward reported 16 cases. Karakulam, a panchayat comprising 23 wards, reported 11 cases.
The dengue control in all these areas is the responsibly of health department as newer corporation wards also are under their ambit. At Vattiyoorkavu, citizens say that junior health officer and doctor were on leave last month when pre-monsoon activities were to be organised. As per Pallichal and Karakulam panchayat officials, their areas are the worst hit by dengue particularly because of waste from city.
“People come in cars from the city and dump garbage in our panchayat. Dengue cases are also high on the banks of Killi river,” said Karakulam panchayat vice-president R.. Pramod Kumar.
Vattiyoorkavu councillor S. Harishankar said that fogging and spraying were not effective in his ward. “There was a laxity in pre-monsoon activities here. Now, we have opened a dengue clinic but only 23 of the suspected 78 dengue patients turned up. We procured prevention medicines from Kulasekharam. Intense source reduction and awareness programmes are going on here,” he said.
He added that defrost drip pan of refrigerators in houses are an important breeding ground of aedes mosquito larvae.
