82 dengue cases in city; admin to start fogging to curb mosquito menace Municipal Commissioner Radhakrishnan B presiding over the meeting of civic officials to frame action plan for countering rising dengue cases in city. Staff Reporter : As city recorded 82 cases of dengue in less than a fortnight alarm bells rang in civic administration that took stock of the situation and decided to kick-start fogging to counter the mosquito menace. Even as concern over third wave of COVID-19 is keeping Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) machinery on its toes the outbreak of dengue has necessitated fast response to tackle the menace before it assumes dangerous proportions. From July 1 to 13 about 66903 houses were searched across city and breeding of mosquito larvae and eggs were found at 1571 places indicating rampant mosquito menace and as such NMC has decided to put its machinery on the action mode. During the checks the larvae about 143079 eggs were found in coolers tin containers cement tanks plastic cans earthen pots and flower pots. About 85428 places were sanitised and sprayed with insecticide to prevent breeding of mosquitoes. Municipal Commissioner Radhakrishnan B on Thursday was closeted with civic officials to frame the civic response chalk out action plan as health officials have warned of sharp rise in cases owing to climatic conditions. Now NMC has decided to further identify the hot spots from historic data and enhance house to house survey for identification and destroying mosquito breeding grounds if any. But more than that civic administration has decided to amplify the need to remove coolers by citizens. Since monsoon has not yet picked-up pace and at most patchy citizens have not yet ditched coolers and hence for mosquitoes it is happy hunting season. As per civic officials since coolers are operated intermittently the water accumulation provides breeding ground for mosquito larvae. And this is cited as single biggest cause for spike in Dengue cases. Dengue larvae are found mostly in clean water and due to rainy season there is no death of spots. Apart from open plots there are several left over tyres articles in which water remain accumulated in households in which the larvae breeds and spreads in entire locality. Besides at many places the improper levelling of roads flower pots in which water is not changed for long duration are also ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes. Municipal Commissioner directed health machinery to survey the city and flag the hot spots and start fever clinic immediately. Similarly serum samples should also be collected from citizens and they be analysed so that compiled data can provide road map for civic officials to plan their action. Also citizens should be appealed to observe one day of week as dry day so as to break the breeding chain. More than that children are most vulnerable in such harsh climatic conditions and proper care be taken to prevent them from mosquito bites. The civic officials are also told to talk with private labs so that information about Dengue positive cases should be relayed to NMC promptly. Employees in Malaria and Filaria Departments in Zones should start daily survey and concentrate on isolation breeding ground and destroy them and carry out spraying of insecticides. Addressing the meeting Ram Joshi Additional Commissioner instructed officials to increase breeding of Gappi fishes that are effective in controlling mosquito breeding. These fishes should be releases in water bodies and supplies to citizens in areas that are known for Dengue cases and citizens should release them in wells and coolers to counter mosquito breeding. At present there are 170 Gappi fishes breeding centers and they would be increased if needed. Joshi appealed to citizens to spray oil at places where water gets accumulated in their houses. During evening a meeting with city builders was also conducted by NMC wherein they asked them to maintain hygiene at construction sites. At many ongoing constructions sites waste water and rain water remains accumulated and civic officials asked builders to ensure that dryness is maintained during the monsoon period. Meanwhile civic administration has finalised fogging programme and released dates on which the machines would carry out the exercise in pre-determined area. A week long fogging activity is planned mostly in dense areas and near slums in respective zones to control mosquito breeding. Yogesh Kumbhejkar Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nagpur Zilla Parishad said some tehsils in the district have reported sudden surge in Dengue cases but overall conditions are not that serious. Instructions have been issued to health machinery to take precautionary measures and create awareness among rural populace. Deepak Kumar Meena Sanjay Nipane both Additional Municipal Commissioners; Rajesh Bhagat Deputy Commissioner; Dr Sanjay Chilkar Medical Health Officer; Dr Vijay Joshi Additional Medical Health Officer; Deepali Nasare Malaria-Filaria Officer; Ganesh Rathod Prakash Warade Harish Raut Ashok Patil Vijay Humne Ghanshyam Pandhre Kiran Bagde Sadhna Patil Sushma Mandge all Zonal Assistant Commissioners and all Zonal Malaria-Filaria officers were present at the meeting chaired by Municipal Commissioner at New Administrative Building NMC Headquarters.

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