CM Kejriwal back in Delhi, says let’s wage united ‘war against mosquitoes’

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal directed the health department on Sunday to buy as many fogging machines as needed to cover all residential neighbourhoods in Delhi.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal directed the health department on Sunday to buy as many fogging machines as needed to cover all residential neighbourhoods in Delhi.

Youth Congress workers protest against the Kejriwal government over the healthcare crisis in Delhi. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)

He also urged all political parties to join hands to control the dengue and chikungunya outbreak in the capital.

The CM returned to the city on Sunday from Bangalore after having undergone a throat surgery for persistent cough.

He had left for Bangalore on September 13, and the surgery took place the next day to correct an anatomical abnormality of his oral-pharyngeal and palatal area.

In a video message released on social media, the CM directed the health minister to come up with a plan and launch a war on mosquito breeding.

“I had a meeting with the health minister today. I told him if we could pull off something as big as the ‘odd-even’, then we can surely control dengue,” Kejriwal said.

“I have asked them to purchase as many fogging machines as they need to decontaminate all the residential neighbourhoods every alternate day,” Kejriwal said, adding in the next few days ‘let’s wage a war against the mosquitoes’.

The video message comes at a time when the Delhi government has been attacked by critics and the opposition parties for ministers ‘missing’ from action as they have been out of the city.

With deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia away in Finland for an educational tour, lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung directed him to cut short his visit and return.

Notwithstanding the LG’s instruction, Sisodia was scheduled to reach as per schedule on Sunday night.

In his video message, Kejriwal urged parties not to politicise the health crisis.

“The mosquitoes do not know if the person it is biting is affiliated to BJP or Congress, so let us not politicise this.”

He also said that he meet all stakeholders, including representatives of Congress and BJP in the coming days to work out a solution.

“We all keep saying that this was the work of the municipal corporation and they have not done their job, but now we cannot do anything about it. Let us all do this job now,” Kejriwal said.