Grappling with rising cases of dengue and chikungunya in the city, Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain on Saturday made an appeal to Delhiites on Saturday, asking them to take 30 minutes off this Sunday and check their house and its surroundings for any stagnant water.
“Want Delhiites to take 30 minutes out of their time and just ensure there is no stagnant water near their houses like in coolers, flower pots, balconies and old tyres. Delhi has 42 lakh houses and if everyone just takes half an hour this Sunday and do the needful, it can make a great impact in preventive measures and if all of you cooperate then we can together root out dengue and chikungunya from the city,” Jain said.
At least 15 people have died due to chikungunya complications and 18 have succumbed to dengue this season. Over 1,700 cases of chikungunya have been reported in the national capital while dengue has affected more than 1,100 people.
The Delhi Government has been under attack from Opposition parties for “failing” to check the spread of the two vector-borne diseases. Jain said, in the meeting with Union Health Minister JP Nadda, “I had requested him to reserve at least 10 per cent of the beds in Central Government-run hospitals like RMl, Safdarjung and lady Hardinge for fever patients and they have agreed to it. So, 1,000 additional beds would now be available in hospitals.”
“We appeal to people to not panic. All adequate arrangements are there in all hospitals, run under Delhi Government or the Centre or MCD,” he added. The Minister said prevention is better than cure and if people can “check for stagnation water in flower pots, utensils, tyres and remove them, then sources of mosquito-breeding would be removed.”
On the issue of helpline for fogging not being answered promptly, he said, “These are civic body helplines for fogging. We will look into the complaints and address the issue.”