With over 65 of the 200 wards in the city reporting dengue cases this year, the Chennai Corporation has roped in councillors to improve participation of residents in mosquito control.
The number of dengue cases has touched 181 in the city limits so far.
As part of creating awareness in the city, the civic body on Friday, organised a meeting for all its 200 councillors to facilitate the increased participation of people in combating the disease. However, only 65 councillors turned up for the meeting.
Infectious diseases such as dengue are rearing their ugly heads predominantly in high-end localities in a few zones. Major zones with dengue cases so far this year, include Royapuram (30 cases), Teynampet (26), Kodambakkam (40), Adyar (20) and Anna Nagar (17).
The largest number of dengue cases – 10 – has been reported in ward no. 138, covering areas in proximity to K.K. Nagar. According to officials, none of those who contracted the disease had any complications.
Most of the city’s healthcare facilities have been reporting cases of dengue on a regular basis, and officials attribute the rise in number of cases to stagnant water in high-end residential neighbourhoods and the contraction of infections from floating populations from the southern districts. “People have to be careful not to facilitate mosquito breeding in their overhead tanks, gardens or wells,” said an official.
The Corporation’s health officials advised councillors to urge people to remove tyres, unused flower pots, buckets and coconut shells from around their homes to prevent the breeding of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which cause dengue. Hospitals were advised to provide patients with mosquito nets. Water containers were to be covered and cleaned every week with bleaching powder. They also warned of action against violators and stressed the need to keep the over 25,000 unoccupied plots of land in the city clean. Over 2 lakh overhead tanks, 74,526 wells, 65,166 sumps and 1,300 km of stormwater drains were also breeding grounds for mosquitoes, officials said.
