Health dept resumes inspecting mosquito breeding sites
The health department has promised to conduct more such inspections in Noida and surrounding areas
Noida: The district health department of Gautam Budh Nagar has begun its third round of inspection in residential colonies and societies to look for possible mosquito breeding spots, as there has been a rise in dengue cases of late.
On Thursday evening, the health department officials inspected houses in Ghijore village of Noida and fined residents for their negligence in not destroying the breeding spots of mosquitoes. Aedes aegyptia mosquitoes that cause vector-borne diseases such as dengue and chikungunya breed in still water that gets collected in old tyres, discarded vases, utensils and desert coolers.
“We issued notices to five households in Ghijore village on Thursday and the total penalty stands at Rs2,500. If residents do not pay the fine within the stipulated period of two days, then an FIR will be filed against them under relevant sections. Later, fogging was also conducted in the village,” said Dr Anurag Bhargav, chief medical officer, Gautam Budh Nagar.
The health department officials will be conducting more inspections in the city and surrounding areas. In the first two rounds of inspections, the department had issued notices to various private, government and civic bodies in Noida and Greater Noida.
“We have been carrying out this exercise for the last few months. We will be carrying out more inspections in the district,” said Dr Bhargav.
In the last one month, there has been a rise in the number of dengue cases in the district. The official figure of the number of dengue cases is at 48. However, unconfirmed reports from other hospitals suggest that the figure could run into hundreds. There have been two dengue-related deaths in the district.
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“Till now, we have come across 48 positive cases of dengue with over 500 samples tested. However, there are over 200 positive cases of dengue at the Child PGI Hospital in Sector 30, Noida,” said Dr Bhargav.
However, the director of Child PGI hospital refused to confirm the number of positive dengue cases registered at the hospital.
“There have been two deaths in our hospital related to dengue. We admit patients as they come and then we treat them. However, we don’t maintain a record of the number of positive dengue cases,” said Dr AK Bhatt, director, Super Specialty Child PGI Hospital, Noida.
The health department has also constituted a seven-member committee to spread awareness about dengue-causing mosquitoes and prevention of mosquito breeding in rural areas. A seven-member committee involving staff of health department has also been formed to spread awareness regarding dengue and malaria in urban villages of Noida.