Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation gears up to tackle dengue ahead of monsoon

HYDERABAD: As part of pre-monsoon preparedness, the entomology wing of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has begun preparing to prevent the spread of dengue and other vector borne. An awareness programme was conducted by GHMC officials on World Dengue Prevention Day at the mayor’s camp office on Monday.
City mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi asked officials to take tough measures to control dengue and reviewed the entomology wing’s plan. “Awareness must be made to let people understand the necessary preventive measures and the disease must be completely eradicated. The impact of dengue during the monsoon season is high from the beginning till the end of monsoon,” Vijayalakshmi said.
Officials said that 302 portable fogging machines and 64 vehicle-mounted fogging machines are operating in Greater Hyderabad to control the mosquito menace. Officials informed that on a daily basis at least 150 areas are being covered and IoT (Internet Of Things) devices have been fitted to fogging machines to enhance the performance and accountability of fogging machines.
All zonal commissioners, deputy commissioners and entomology officers at GHMC were given a mobile application and given access to monitor the performance of these machines. The new technology illuminates how many areas these machines travel in a day, and how far they travel. Officials said that a special dashboard is created to track the performance of the machines and generate a weekly report. Additional commissioner of sanitation and health B Santosh appealed to the public to take precautionary measures against the spread of vector-borne diseases. The meeting was attended by chief entomologist Dr Rambabu and other department officials.