Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia at the event Friday. Praveen Khanna
“The odd-even rule (car rationing scheme) had been implemented in different parts of the world but was never successful. But in Delhi it was a great success. This happened only because the people of Delhi supported it. Now I need your support to declare war against dengue and chikungunya,” said CM Arvind Kejriwal on Friday, launching a campaign to fight vector-borne diseases.
Asking the two crore people of the city to join the government’s efforts, he said, “We cannot completely eradicate the diseases but even if we can reduce it, we will set an example.” Addressing RWAs, NGOs, senior citizens, school principals and students at Thyagaraj Stadium, Kejriwal said the programme will be an ‘abhiyan’ in three phases.
Showing videos on how people can fight the spread of the disease at the source, Kejriwal said the government will hold training programmes at each district collector’s office every Sunday for the next two months.
“I request the RWAs to make an inspection around the area every Sunday and ensure that no fresh water is accumulated, because that is where mosquitoes breed,” he said. DVDs and CDs of the training will be uploaded on the government’s website and given to all MLAs and schools. Education Minister Manish Sisodia asked school principals to play the video during the morning assembly. “If we can teach 26 lakh children how they can curb the spread of disease, it will be great. Just show them the video every morning and children will do it with great interest. You can tell them to check places where fresh water is accumulated in their houses and clean it up,” Sisodia said.
He also asked principals and teachers to make sure that for half an hour every Friday, they clean their own schools.
