Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Tuesday assured the residents that the State government was “prepared to handle any possible outbreak of vector-borne diseases in the city”.
Speaking to journalists after surprise inspection of Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital in east Delhi’s Dilshad Garden, the Minister said: “There have been meetings at the Lieutenant-Governor’s level on steps to be taken to prevent breeding of mosquitoes. All civic bodies have been instructed as well. Besides, we have directed various hospitals to increase their bed strength by 10% to 20%. There are about 10,000 beds in Delhi government hospitals. We had put extra beds last year as well. If needed, we will add more beds this time too.”
Municipal report
His surprise visit comes days after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s inspection of Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, during which he expressed displeasure over the state of affairs there.
The Capital has recorded nearly 100 cases of chikungunya even before the onset of monsoon. Of these, 10 were recorded this month, according to a municipal report released on Monday. Also, 40 cases of dengue were reported till May 27.
De-silting of drains
Mr. Jain, who also hold the Public Works Department portfolio, said all drains in the city will be de-silted by June 7 to prevent waterlogging on roads during the monsoon.
Water-logging
Mr. Jain, who also conducted surprise inspection of roads and drains at east Delhi’s Mandoli village and Mandoli Jail road, said, “All drains will be de-silted by June 7. To prevent waterlogging, the PWD will station around 1,000 pumps at different locations to pump out water from city’s roads.”
Last year’s outbreak
At least 36 people had died due to chikungunya and dengue last year.
The Delhi government had received flak after one of the worst outbreaks of chikungunya in the city. Of 12,221 cases reported till December 24, 2016, 9,749 were confirmed.
Mr. Kejriwal had recently directed authorities to come up with a comprehensive plan to deal with dengue and chikungunya. The civic bodies are also keeping a tab on mosquito-breeding through regular monitoring.
On May 13, Mr. Kejriwal had chaired a high-level meeting of officers from the three civic bodies and the Delhi government to discuss plans to prevent vector-borne diseases. He had also written to Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda, requesting him to reserve 10% of beds in Central government-run hospitals for treatment of dengue and chikungunya patients.
L-G directions
L-G Anil Baijal had on April 29 directed the Delhi government-run LNJP Hospital to keep beds ready for dengue and chikungunya patients in the event of an outbreak in the city.
The civic bodies had in March organised an all-hands workshop on prevention and control of vector-borne diseases to finalise a comprehensive action plan to combat the menace. The L-G had on March 23 held a review meeting with the municipal commissioners on preparations for combating vector-borne diseases.
