Rain may worsen Bhubaneswar’s dengue scenario: Experts

BHUBANESWAR: The city’s dengue scenario may turn worse as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted rain for the next few days across the state, anticipate health experts.
Further showers may proliferate mosquito-breeding sources, posing a tough challenge to the civic authorities, the experts have said. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Sunday initiated several measures to destroy mosquito larvae sources and maintain cleanliness in different wards.

Public health specialist Dr Khirod Kumar Rout said clean stagnant water helps Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to breed.
“If the city gets further showers, rainwater will get accumulated in various hard surfaces like unused tyre, tin cans, defunct water pools, abandoned flowerpots and also in road craters. We should not allow any stagnation of water anywhere in the city,” he added.
Rout also advised people to ensure that water does not stagnate for days in and around houses. He urged the BMC to intensify their Dry Day activities across the city to curb the spread of the disease.
BMC health officer Deepak Kumar Bisoyi said: “We conducted our Dry Day activities on Sunday to destroy mosquito-breeding sources and remove stagnant water from various areas. We have also conducted fogging at some places and sprinkled larvicidal oil on stagnant water sources to kill mosquito larvae. We will intensify our drives.”
Meanwhile, various rallies were taken out on Sunday by health workers and volunteers at different wards as part of the civic body’s sensitisation programme on dengue prevention. Teams of health workers visited city residents door-to-door to enquire about their health condition.
Since January, the capital has so far reported more than 2,200 dengue cases.