North Chennai is awash with fever cases, with areas like Tondiarpet and Royapuram reporting many cases of dengue.
“This year, over 350 dengue cases have been reported in September. Initially, dengue cases were reported in south Chennai but now there are more cases in north Chennai,” a civic official said.
“In fact, over 70% of the cases have been reported in wards of north Chennai. We are studying the reasons and are expecting the number to peak in October,” he said, sounding caution.
Harbour MLA P.K. Sekar Babu said the inadequate garbage clearance and faulty civic infrastructure have led to a rise in mosquito breeding sources in many areas of north Chennai.
“There are around 600 people with fever in the government hospital. But the government claims that more than 500 cases are of unknown origin. This is a disgrace for the government to say that they are unable to diagnose a fever. The government machinery has failed in this key aspect of public health,” said Mr. Sekar Babu.
‘Feigning ignorance’
“The government refuses to admit that the poor civic conditions have led to the rise in the number of fever cases. The officials continue to under report dengue cases. They are not certifying dengue cases as dengue. This is affecting dengue prevention and mosquito control operations,” he added.
According to Corporation sources, the official number of dengue cases in Tondiarpet was 25, the highest in the city in September. They said 80% of the 200 wards in the city have reported dengue cases.
“The intermittent rain in thickly populated areas of north Chennai has led to an increase in the incidence of dengue,” an official said.
Proactive steps
“We will take proactive steps. We have mapped suspected hotspots, collecting 25 female mosquitoes for checking the virus load. We will start fogging and source reduction this week. Any ward with more than two cases will get fogging operations in the morning, especially in the vicinity of schools, orphanages and hostels,” an official said.
Expecting the dengue cases to peak in October, the civic body is studying the trends. In previous years, southern zones such as Adyar reported many cases but not this year.
“Adyar did not report any dengue case this September,” an official said.
