Dengue alarm in Mohali again

Tribune News Service

Mohali, October 21

With three dengue deaths and a total of 1,112 dengue cases so far, the situation is again alarming in Mohali district this year.

The district, from where Punjab Health Minister Brahm Mohindra had launched a live portal of National Vector-Borne Diseases Control Programme (from Mohali) on May 16 this year to mark National Dengue Day, has remained on the top of the list of dengue cases. It witnessed nearly 1,200 cases last year while the entire state had recorded more than 3,200 cases of dengue then.

This (1,112 cases) is the official figure. The actual figure might be much higher as several suspected cases of dengue are being handled by private doctors and hospitals. Private laboratories are flooded with patients seeking dengue tests in the area.

Dr AP Singh, a private practitioner at Phase 2, here claimed that usually two-three dengue patients visit him every day of late. “Yes, the situation is again alarming here. The major concern is that the rate of dengue positive reports has increased here. Earlier, of 10 reports, the average number of positive cases was hardly two. Now, the number has touched the five-six mark,” said Dr Singh.

The gravity of the situation can be gauged from the fact that more than 600 new dengue cases were reported in Mohali in the past month only.

The maximum cases have been reported in Mohali city with 350 positive cases, followed by Nayagaon with 175 cases. At Kharar, the figure of such cases is around 100 and nearly 50 persons have tested positive for dengue in Zirakpur. In villages, more than 200 cases of dengue have been reported in the district so far.

While the MC authorities claimed that they had chalked out a fogging schedule in the area, it is just missing here. The wild growth is also not being removed and the sanittary conditions, even in the hospitals, are not up to the mark. 

“With wild growth all around and poor sanitary conditions in various parts of the town, Mohali is again hit by vector-borne diseases. The health and MC authorities are just sleeping over the issue,” said Rajesh Kumar, a local resident.

The authorities have to wake up from their slumber and intensify fogging and take other such measure to check the spread of the disease, otherwise the area would witness a large number of such cases in the coming days, said the doctors here. 

The Mohali Civil Surgeon, Dr Rita Bhardwaj, said the health authorities were on their toes to check the diseases but the residents should also be aware about cleanliness of their surroundings and breeding of dengue larvae in their houses. 

Referring to the high number of cases at Nayagaon, the Civil Surgeon said a special awareness camp on dengue at Nayagaon was attended by only one councillor and a few officials. “People must take part in awareness camps, take precautions and not thrust the responsibility only on the government,” said Dr Bhardwaj.