As after the Capital has witnessed 410 cases of malaria, the claim of the civic agencies to have taken eco-friendly measures besides routine spraying and fogging to check the vector-borne diseases seems to be a total failure. At least 79 fresh cases of dengue have also been reported during this month in Delhi, taking the total number of people affected by the vector-borne disease this season to nearly 500, according to a municipal report released on Monday.
The number of Chikungunya cases this year till August 12, has climbed to 283. Of the 496 dengue cases, 251 affected people were residents of Delhi while the rest of the cases diagnosed here were traced to other states. At least 79 cases have been recorded this month. Nearly 120 cases of dengue were reported last month, while 15 were recorded in June.
According to the report, breeding of mosquitoes has been reported at 1,04,758 households in Delhi. All the three municipal corporations have stepped up awareness drives, distributing pamphlets and plying vehicles with loudspeakers issuing dos and don'ts for prevention of the diseases.
However, sources in the Corporation said the spraying insecticide is a futile exercise. "By doing this the agency is fooling the people." Explaining the process from procurement of insecticides from a particular company to further distribution to the 'District Heath Officer' (DHOs), they said, "First insecticides purchased by agency and then allotted to DHOs on demand but there is an elephant in the room that has not been noticed till now as there is no mechanism to check that whether the DHOs are further using the insecticides in a desired quantity or not."
They further highlighted that a tank used for spraying cost Rs 1.5 lakh while the insecticides cost Rs 1,050 per kg. To make a water cooler dengue free only cost Rs 25, said sources. Most importantly, there is no measure to check whether insecticides worth Rs 1.5 lakh (in a single tank) is being used to spray or not.
At least 15 fatalities were reported last year at various hospitals in the city due to complications triggered by chikungunya though the civic bodies have kept the death tally at zero.
At least 21 deaths due to dengue were reported last year at various hospitals, including nine at AIIMS, though the official tally of the civic bodies stood at 10. Seventeen deaths suspected to be due to malaria in 2016 were also reported by the civic bodies. In one of the worst outbreaks, a total of 12,221 chikungunya cases were reported in Delhi till December 24, 2016, out of which 9,749 were confirmed.