LAHORE: The district administration on Monday closed all 36 swimming pools as part of the campaign against dengue and carried out indoor and outdoor surveillance in various zones of the city.

Tyre shops are being focussed and all obsolete tyres are lifted and confiscated. Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Ali visited the Dhobi Ghaat locality and he found some worn-out tyres lying outside a [closed] shop.

He immediately called the zone team which confiscated them. A case is being registered against the shop owner.

Similarly, the DC has ordered the closing of all outdoor commercial swimming pools. He directed assistant commissioners to get all swimming pools closed.

“There are a total 36 swimming pools in Lahore which are being closed,” he added. Nine swimming pools are in Allama Iqbal zone, (12) Nishter zone, (2) Aziz Bhatti zone, (3) Gulberg, (5) Shalimar, two each in Ravi zone and Cantonment Board, one each in Data Ganj Bakhsh and Samanabad zones.

Mr Ali said the step was taken to control the birth of dengue larva as swimming pools provide a conducive atmosphere for breeding of mosquitoes.

Earlier, ant-polio drive kicked off formally in 169 union councils and workers are going door to door to administer drops to two million under five-year-old children.

The DC visited UC 72 (old Anarkali) to check the working of polio teams on Monday morning.The assistant commissioners paid visits to fruit and vegetable markets in the morning. City AC Muhammad Murtaza observed the auction process of different vegetables and fruits at Badami Bagh market. The ACs of Raiwind and Shalimar visited fruit and vegetable markets in Raiwind and Singhpura respectively where they inspected the prices of essential commodities.

The Shalimar AC also imposed a fine of Rs20,000 on the shopkeeper for overcharging.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2022