To tackle mosquito-borne diseases before the monsoon sets in, a door-to-door surveillance campaign with about 1,200 staff from ward secretariats and malaria department (urban wing) will kick-start from Monday, said Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) Commissioner G. Srijana on Saturday. She said that the staff would create awareness about the seasonal diseases like malaria, dengue and chikungunya, mosquito breeding points and dos & don’ts during the coming monsoon season.
To ensure that the surveillance is conducted more effectively, the civic body has introduced geo-tagging system in which the ward volunteers have been asked to scan code at every house through the app which is specifically designed for the purpose, she said addressing a press conference at the GVMC office here on Saturday.
The Commissioner said that from the previous cases, it was observed that 70% of the cases were reported from stagnation of water in households.
“The secretariat staff will visit houses at least once every seven days to check and alert the citizens whether they destroyed all such breeding points. Every ward will have a special officer to monitor the surveillance,” she said.
Fines proposed
Ms. Srijana said that private landowners should ensure that their vacant spaces are cleaned. If it is not done, the civic body would initially serve notices and then impose fines if the owners fail to respond. Similarly, private establishments should also maintain the surroundings clean, she said.
The GVMC Commissioner said that if citizens are also found negligent in cleaning the mosquito breeding points over two or three times, a fine ranging from ₹500 to ₹1,500 will be imposed.
There is responsibility also on citizens to destroy the breeding points because a dengue mosquito can travel at least 500 metres from the point and this can impact others’ health, she said. Spraying activities will be taken up in every ward. Oil balls are being procured to destroy breeding points in water tanks, she said.
The Commissioner also appealed to the public to dedicate 10 minutes of their time in cleaning their surroundings every Sunday.
Cases
GVMC limits have witnessed about 416 malaria cases, 1,464 dengue cases and 42 chikungunya cases during the year 2018.
In the year 2019, the number of malaria cases reported in the GVMC limits were 89, while the number of dengue cases were 827. A total of 27 chikungunya cases were reported the same year.
For the year 2020 (till May), the GVMC has reported four malaria cases, 57 dengue cases and five chikungunya cases.
Hotspots
The Public Health department of the GVMC has identified 47 high risk areas for dengue based on previous cases. Similarly, 21 areas were identified as hotspots for malaria in the GVMC limits.
