Thursday, 25 APRIL 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
In view of the recent increase in the mosquito menace in the city, the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) has started a fogging drive to prevent mosquito breeding and check the spread of dengue and other vector-borne diseases. The fogging is being carried out initially only in the vulnerable areas of the city as a preventive measure under the anti- dengue campaign, the chief municipal health officer Dr Avinash Khanna said. He said that the MCD has a list of the vulnerable areas of every ward which are more prone to get hit badly by dengue. Considering this, sanitation supervisors have been directed to conduct regular fogging in vulnerable areas of their respective wards along with places like slums, VVIP areas and near water bodies among others. They are carrying out these duties ward-wise. The MCD has provided each supervisor with sufficient equipment and fuel to carry out the regular fogging, he said. The corporation will also start raising awareness against dengue spread. The spraying of larvicide will also be commenced in a few weeks as a precautionary measure, Khanna added. The corporation will take steps to identify the factors that contribute to the spread of dengue in these areas and take appropriate measures to address them.
The MCD spends crores of rupees every year on the anti-dengue campaign, which involves regular fogging and spraying of larvicide throughout the city by the sanitation team. On average, MCD spends about Rs 1.29 lakh daily on regular fogging and spraying of larvicide once it starts a massive anti-dengue campaign that usually commences in June. Khanna said that the whole campaign costs around Rs 35 lakh to Rs 40 lakh each month for the next four to six months, depending on the intensity of the dengue scare across the city. The MCD will also take all possible measures to prevent the spread of vector-borne diseases and will also impose penalties on those enabling the breeding of mosquitoes due to sheer negligence, he added.
