LAHORE, Sept 11: The five-member committee constituted by chief minister to probe into alleged use of substandard insecticides by the city district government during the on-going fumigation drive has held officials’ lack of skill and knowledge about use of the insecticides responsible for dengue virus spread, it is learnt reliably.

A well-informed source told Dawn on Sunday that the probe team led by Punjab’s Additional Inspector General of Police (Finance) Aftab Sultan had got the insecticides tested from various laboratories of Lahore and Islamabad which declared them ‘genuine’ and fit for fumigation.

“The inquiry committee, which is expected to release its final report within next couple of days, has interviewed nearly 70 officials, including Punjab’s health department secretary, additional secretary, deputy secretary, Lahore DCO, health EDO and DO, public health DO, CDGL field supervisors and teams/vaccinators, zoologists, entomologists and agronomists of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF), besides independent chemical engineers and experts,” the sources said.

He added though the committee had yet to interview some more experts, it had a consensus that lack of technical skills and knowledge about proper use of insecticides and timings of spray and fumigation had rendered the whole anti-mosquito exercise ineffective.

He said the probe team also paid frequent field visits and interviewed officials of town municipal administrations and members of public.

Most of the interviewed people were of the view that the indoor residual spray (IRS), thermal fogging and breeding sites spray remained ineffective and couldn’t kill mosquitoes, he said.

The source said that some of the officials were of the view that as CDGL had been carrying out fumigation for the last six or seven years, the chances of mosquitoes developing immunity to the insecticides couldn’t be ruled out.

Some others commented that for a comprehensive and effective anti-mosquito drive in monsoon more efficient insecticides were required, he added.

He said the team that was expected to interview some more experts, including World Health Organization (WHO) representatives, believed that the MBBS doctors who were assigned supervisory role in the fumigation drive had meager knowledge of insecticides used and the fumigation techniques.

The source said in the committee’s opinion fumigation should have been done under operational and administrative control of zoologists and entomologists, instead of the CDGL officials.

Lahore DCO Ahad Cheema said the insecticides used by the CDGL were genuine. “It is not a matter of substandard insecticides, rather the issue is related to availability of meager resources, lack of officials’ capacity-building/training, knowledge and technical skills,” he explained.

When asked why the CDGL didn’t take any precautionary steps like purchase of equipment, fogging and spray machines prior to start of mosquitoes’ breeding season despite last year’s bitter experience of dengue epidemic, Mr Cheema said as the dengue was new to the officials they couldn’t assess the upcoming weather situation and resultant massive growth of mosquitoes. He said an entomologist of the CDGL had been giving technical support to the officials conducting the anti-mosquito drive.