BHUBANESWAR: After facing flak from the public, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to increase the manpower by three times to destroy the breeding sources of mosquitoes and related cleaning works. Currently, two people per ward are engaged in destroying the mosquito breeding sources.
BMC health officer Deepak Kumar Bisoyi told TOI on Monday that six or more people will be engaged in each ward for this exercise.BMC has 67 wards. “If we rope in more people for this work, we can fast-track the process of eradicating more mosquito larvae and breeding sources,” he added.
He said they will also hold fogging and anti-larva spraying exercises in a massive way from Tuesday to contain the dengue cases. “Disease surveillance activities will also be intensified. Door-to-door surveillance and awareness drives will gather pace too,” he added.
The city reported more than 500 cases, including 411 cases from the BMC area. The majority of dengue cases have been reported from Acharya Vihar, Saheed Nagar, Jaydev Vihar, Nayapalli, and Patia localities in the city. Sporadic cases are being reported from other places in the city, said official sources.
While dengue positive cases touched 2000 in the state, more than 800 cases have been detected from Khurda district alone. Bhubaneswar is part of this district. “The situation is under control. People should clean the mosquito breeding sources inside their houses. We are reviewing the dengue situation regularly,” said public health director Nilakantha Mishra.
Mihir Sethi, a city resident, said the majority of dengue cases are reported between August and October normally. Sometimes it stretches until November and December, keeping the rain and humidity in mind. “If the health and family welfare department and civic body of the capital city do not take necessary measures now, the dengue situation becomes worse in the coming days,” he added.
In the past, BMC had used drones to spray chemicals for killing mosquito larvae. They were deployed in inaccessible locations like abandoned plots, narrow lanes, and pools. The civic body was also holding ‘Dry Day’ to reduce the source of mosquito breeding in the city.
As the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are day biters, the health officials said people should use mosquito nets if they are sleeping during the daytime. “People can use mosquito repellents, and wear full shirts and trousers with shoes while going out,” said the officials.