CHAKWAL, Oct 15: An NGO has promised to provide machines for fumigation to the district health department, grappling with increasing number of suspected dengue patients in Chakwal and nearby villages, with little help from Lahore, Dawn has learnt. Plan Pakistan has pledged to donate a couple of machines for fumigation as there is no such machine in the district of more than 1,300,000 people.

The local office of Plan Pakistan has asked its head office in Islamabad to release one million rupees for purchasing fumigators.

A source told Dawn that the health department had thrice asked for machines for fumigation in the last two years and every time the request was thrown into dustbin. The health department in Chakwal has to borrow machine for fumigation from the counterpart in Rawalpindi. The source said the department also lacked desired quantity of chemicals used in fumigation.

A few days ago Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif phoned local MPA Ifat Liaquat to condole death of her father-in-law, and also talked with her spouse Chaudhry Liaquat Ali, a former MPA.

A handout issued from the house of Mr Ali said the chief minister assured help to curb dengue fever. But instead of assistance came the suspension of Executive District Health Officer Dr Arshad Ali Sabir. Instead of allocating funds and other necessary equipments to the health department, the EDO was suspended as he failed to ‘eliminate’ mosquitoes from Chakwal.

Five persons with suspected dengue fever have died. But the health department has only confirmed the death of Sajid Ali because of dengue fever, keeping mum on the cause of death of Sooba Khan, Ansar Mehmood, Safdar Maith and Azhar Iqbal.

The people of Dhudial said the fever cases were increasing rapidly. “Nine out of eleven members of my family have fever,” Wahid, a resident of Dhab Parri village, told Dawn.

Other adjacent villages like Doray, Dhudial, Fim Kassar, Dhoke Wadhan, Siral and Turkwal are also witnessing increasing number of patients with fever.

District Health Officer Dr Nasir Mahmood has confirmed five dengue fever patients in Chakwal, as the health department has set up emergency medical camps in the affected villages.

“We have fumigated 2,100 rooms of 300 houses in Dhudial town today,” Dr Mahmood said. He said test reports of suspected patients were being awaited. “We are working on emergency basis to control the disease,” he said.