In the 24 hours ending 8 a.m. Tuesday, eight dengue positive cases were reported within the Coimbatore city limits. A day earlier, six cases were reported. And a few days ago, again, seven cases were reported.
The almost daily report of dengue positive cases continues even as the Coimbatore Corporation on November 29 ratified the appointment of workers on contract for mosquito control operations. The civic body sought the Council’s ratification for having employed on contract 200 persons during August 4 to 15, and also for having employed 100 persons between August 16 and September 30 and a like number of persons from October 14 to December 14.
The reason the officials told the Council – to control the outbreak of dengue. After appointing the workers, the Corporation officials said that they would be engaged in fogging, spraying larvicides in drain and chemicals in water tanks to control mosquitoes. The latter particularly targeted against the Aedes aegypti mosquito that breeds in fresh water.
The total expenditure the officials told the Council had amounted to Rs. 13.20 lakh.
The money the Corporation had spent and the men it had engaged, it appears, has not had the intended benefits as the city continues to report fresh dengue cases and residents say they have not seen mosquito control operations in their areas.
A resident of GV Residency, on condition of anonymity, said that he had hardly seen any mosquito control operation in his area, which comes under Ward 57. The same is the story in Kothari Nagar, Ward 61.
Resident S. Venkatesh said that it has been two months since he saw a Corporation worker carry out fogging operations in the area. The area residents had been suffering a stagnant sewage for long and that the Corporation had not cared to clean it.
In Ramnagar (Ward 54), resident R. Karpagam said that it had been more than a month since the Corporation officials carried out fogging operations. The same is true in Vadavalli and Kalapatti as well. But the residents concede that a few Corporation workers visited house to spray medicines in water tanks.
Even that does not seem to have happened in Kalapatti, where a councillor on condition of anonymity complained that many localities in the area had not seen a Corporation worker.
Worse, in Kuniamuthur, the civic body seemed to have carried out the anti mosquito operations only in a few localities, leaving out the slums.
While a health wing official said that the civic body had employed workers – first three workers a ward and later two a ward – to eradicate mosquitoes.
While one worker carried out fogging operations, the other sprayed chemicals in tanks and larvicide in drains.
The official said that the civic body gave each worker a litre of the pyrethrum or larvicide and diesel to be sprayed across wards. This was a daily routine. The second worker, engaged on contract, would destroy mosquito breeding places and pour medicines in water tanks. He also said that sanitary inspectors of the wards concerned were supervising the operations.
Dengue case reported
Meanwhile, a 21-year-old tested positive for H1N1 in the city and has been admitted to a private hospital. According to sources, he is a resident of Peelamedu.
