KARACHI, Dec 4: Shahida Kausar Farooq, the chairperson of Subh-i-Nau, has expressed grave concern over the spread of lethal fevers in the city claiming lives.

In a letter to City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal, Ms Shahida called for urgent measures for prevention of Dengu and Congo fevers.

Referring to the initiation of spray of insecticides, she said it was not a long-term solution to the problem but only an ad hoc arrangement. She attributed the spread of lethal fevers to growing unhygienic conditions in the city and said the only solution to the problem was a sustained cleanliness drive with replacement of leaking sewerage and water lines in the entire city.

However, she pointed out, this could not be done unless a municipal emergency was imposed by the city government and all the towns.

Shahida Farooq claimed that since KMC days she had been advocating the enforcement of municipal emergency to make the city cleaner and safer environmentally. But, she regretted, despite passage of a bill on municipal emergency by the then provincial assembly, the concept remained unimplemented and one could see its adverse effects today.

On behalf of her public health organization, she warned that such a situation could result in occurrence of other deadly diseases due to obsolete systems responsible for maintenance of proper sanitary conditions. —APP