NEW DELHI: With 72 fresh cases reported in the last 24 hours, the total number of dengue cases in the city is now 1,101. The toll so far is 25. Of the total cases, 709 patients are from within the city.
According to municipal health officer Dr K N Yadav, with 126 cases having been reported from the Central Zone alone, areas like Badarpur, Okhla, Jamia Nagar and Meethapur have been put on the high priority list.
“Fogging vans from other zones have been diverted to these areas and 800 additional personnel have been deputed for the zone. But despite all the awareness initiatives, breeding is still being detected inside coolers. Even from educated households, the common refrain on being shown larvae in water is ‘who are you fooling, mosquitoes are in the air. Don’t show us mosquitoes in water’. This is an impossible situation,” Dr Yadav said.
Source: Times of India
What this story and in particular the above quoted last paragraph highlights is that people believe fighting mosquito menace is a job of the government and they don’t have any role to play in it.
In my neighborhood every house has multiple coolers and/or AC’s, yet I am yet to see any one making sure that mosquito is not growing in them. Also what makes me worry about this is the fact that most of the people who stay on the first or second floor don’t have access to their coolers and ac’s since they are fitted in the windows, which makes me wonder if they even know what is growing inside of them? Also this makes it tough for the health inspectors to examine to cooler/ac for the sign of mosquito. Which only means that less then half of the coolers/ac of the houses checked will be checked for the signs of the mosquitoes!
This is an alarming situation which would be more acute in apartment complexes and other high rise buildings. I guess a solution to this would be if the government forcibly puts few drops kerosene or petrol in each and every cooler/ac to ensure the mosquitoes are not able to flourish in them.
Or better yet if we as citizens wakeup and start following this simple solution!
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