RAWALPINDI: After the end of monsoon season, the dengue mosquito is coming out from safer places as larvae was found in 963 places in the city and cantonment areas from Sept 19 and Sept 28.

According to data available with Dawn, the dengue larvae was found in Dhoke Babu Irfan, Dhoke Hassu, Dhoke Mangtal, Gharibabad, Shakrial, New Afzal Town, Railway Scheme Chaklala, Chamanabad, Ashraf Colony, Shah Jewan Colony and Allama Iqbal Colony.

As many as 589 teams have been given the task to check commercial and domestic units in the 46 union councils of the city and 20 wards of the cantonment areas.

The teams checked 12,811 houses and found dengue larvae at 455 sites, including 102 houses in Rawalpindi Cantonment, 226 houses in Potohar Town and Chaklala Cantonment and 127 houses in Rawal Town.

As many as 164,001 public areas were checked and dengue larvae was found in 508 sites and nine cooperative societies.

Moreover, 66 complaints were received and solved. So far, 10 people have contracted the disease but there has been no death from it. Commissioner retired Capt Mohammad Mehmood told Dawn that the number of patients was limited this year compared to last year.

“As many as 3,087 cases were reported from January to September 2019 while this year only 10 dengue cases have emerged so far. Moreover, 2,611 cases were reported from September 1 to September 29, 2019, compared to just four cases in the corresponding period this year.”

The commissioner directed the health officials and the civic bodies to speed up the work to eliminate the dengue larvae from residential areas and public places.

He said there was a dire need to create awareness among the residents about cleanliness in and around their houses.

Special focus of cleanliness will be paid on mosques, graveyards, streets, roads and public parks. He said all departments had to work jointly to avoid the spread of dengue.

He said the health authority should compile data from private clinics and hospitals as mostly people also visited these facilities.

He said there was also a need to adopt safety measures as mosquitoes would enter houses when temperature dropped.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2020