TIRUNELVELI: After a pregnant woman from Pettai in Kadayanallur became the first dengue victim of the district during this season, Collector M. Karunakaran inspected the affected areas along with a team of Public Health Department officials on Wednesday and accelerated anti-dengue measures.
Dr. Karunakaran, who visited every house in Pettai and streets 4 to 6 in Rahmaniyapuram to personally assess the reasons behind the outbreak, appealed to the public to cooperate with the Kadayanallur municipality officials in eradicating mosquito that spreads the dreaded disease. He also inspected the water tanks in the houses and met the patients undergoing treatment at Kadayanallur Government Hospital with fever.
When he happened to see a few water tanks without covers, the Collector asked the dwellers to keep the tanks closed as it would prevent mosquito breeding. He distributed awareness pamphlets to the public. He ordered the Kadayanallur municipality officials to clean all drainage channels and remove the uncleared garbage immediately.
“We’ll ensure regular supply of drinking water in the days to come and hence there will not be any need for storing the drinking water in huge containers like plastic barrels, which provide excellent breeding ground for mosquitoes spreading the disease. Since I’ve instructed the officials to conduct special camps in the affected areas to extend best possible treatment to the patients, there is no need for panic,” the Collector assured the residents.
Dr. Karunakaran asked the officials of Kadayanallur Municipality and the Public Health Department to carry out coordinated efforts in containing the problem at the earliest.
The Collector, after the inspection, said 187 persons had been involved in anti-dengue operations in 5 wards of Kadayanallur. Apart from the 15 hand-held fogging equipments, 6 vehicle-mounted fogging machines had been pressed into service in the affected areas. Moreover, ten medical teams had been deployed and ‘nilavembu kudineer’ was being distributed to the public continuously.
When Kadayanallur lost more than 40 of its citizens to dengue after a massive outbreak in 2009 and 2010, experts from Pune and Bengaluru visited the affected areas and coordinated with the health department officials in the anti-dengue operations. Since around 200 persons from Kadayanallur and adjoining are now suffering from fever and undergoing treatment in various hospitals, the district administration is taking all-out efforts to eradicate dengue.
Revenue Divisional Officer, Tenkasi, Venkatesh, Deputy Director of Public Health Ram Ganesh and others accompanied the Collector during the inspection.
