No single coordinating authority exists between the Delhi Government and the various civic agencies in the city to ensure that the preventive efforts taken to contain dengue, malaria and other seasonal diseases are put on a common platform and synchronised.
“This lack of coordination between the agencies could have been one of the major causes for the large number of dengue and malaria cases being reported in the Capital this season with preventive measures too not having desired effect. However, in reply to a Right to Information (RTI) question, the New Delhi Municipal Council said while there was no single coordinating agency, meeting are held with other agencies for strengthening preventive measures,'' said Vinod Kumar Jain who had filed the RTI.
Mr. Jain also enquired if private medical practitioners were involved in collecting data of the number of patients in Delhi who are admitted to hospitals because of dengue, malaria and other seasonal diseases. “In reply the civic agencies said it was the Municipal Corporation of Delhi that is the nodal agency for collecting data from private practitioners in Delhi. This means that all the dengue and malaria figures have to be reported and brought to one place from across the Capital which may not have been done in the most effective manner. We have had several complaints of dengue cases going unreported,'' said Mr. Jain.
Various civic agencies have claimed that they are taking several preventive measures including door-to-door checking for presence of mosquito breeding, checking of different places having water collections, strengthening of inter-sectoral co-ordination and issuance of notice and challans for creating conditions conducive for mosquitoes breeding.
“We are not saying that the Delhi Government or the civic agencies are not working. We only want to highlight the fact that the prevention work is being done in what seems like isolated pockets which is leading to lack of proper implementation of the preventive measures applied. Delhiites have suffered this season because of this lack of coordination,'' he said.
