LAHORE, Sept 10: It is perplexing to see large hoardings carrying pictures which show water being drained out of even flowerpots and old tyres ‘to help check dengue mosquito breeding’ on one hand and the huge ditches allover the city, especially in the downtown, accumulating rainwater in large quantities after every downpour, on the other.

The apparent contradiction arises out of a scenario where massive construction activity, including large-scale drilling and digging work, is going on in the city parallel to an equally energetic anti-dengue drive, both being keenly monitored by none other than Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif himself.

Having lived under the scare of being stung by a mosquito that can prove fatal or can at least cause a painful condition last year, almost everybody knows that the dengue-causing insect breeds in open water.

In this backdrop, it is being feared that the water accumulating in the ditches, some of them 70-100 feet deep, dug in connection with the Lahore Metro Bus Project (LMBP) could become massive breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Many of such ditches could be seen on various stretches of the Ferozepur Road where a large chunk of the Metro Bus track is under construction.

Similarly, there are other development works being undertaken by various civic agencies at other localities, where ditches have been dug.

The ditches filled with rainwater in the city might be the main source of dengue mosquito breeding, says an official, requesting anonymity.

“Keeping public and private places dry by draining out water is a core component of the on-going anti-dengue campaign as water accumulation may cause a massive growth of mosquitoes if the authorities concerned ignored this factor,” he warned.

“So it is direly needed that these ditches are dried up immediately by draining out the rainwater from there in order to check growth of mosquitoes. If they (the officials) ignored this issue, the city might face another dengue outbreak like the last one,” he added.

The official said the ditches were also causing sewerage and water supply problems in various parts of the city.

“The drilling work done for construction activities is also damaging the underground sewerage system and potable water pipelines. That is why, the complaints relating to sewerage and clean drinking water are rising in various localities of the city,” he said.

A construction worker at Muslim Town bridge where massive drilling and digging work is going on for third flyover rapidly, said that he and his colleagues were witnessing growth of mosquitoes in the ditches there. To a question, he said that he didn’t see any official visiting the place to carry out anti-mosquito spray.

District Coordination Officer Noorul Amin Mengal rejected the perception that the rainwater-filled ditches could facilitate breeding of dengue larva.

“The on-going rains are replenishing the water in the ditches. Technically the dengue larva cannot breed at the places where water is frequently replenished,” he explained, adding that the sites where water got accumulated for longer periods could be used by the mosquito for breeding.

He said construction sites in the city were already being monitored very closely by the officials concerned, claiming he didn’t receive even a single complaint to date regarding dengue larva growth at such places.