Dengue: Panchkula MC procures 11 fogging machines, residents say too late

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, October 20

With dengue cases going past the 350 mark, Civil Surgeon Dr Mukta Kumar today instructed officials to take all necessary steps to check the spread of the vector-borne disease.

She told officials to give special attention to most-affected areas such as Sector 4, 7, 10, 11, 15, 19, 20, 21 and 26, Old Panchkula and Rally, Abheypur, Budhanpur and Haripur villages.

This season, dengue cases have also been reported from Surajpur, Marranwala, Pinjore, Kalka, Kot and Barwala areas.

Meanwhile, the Municipal Corporation has finally woken up from its slumber to intensify fogging in all wards of the city. The civic body has procured 11 new fogging machines — 10 thermal fogging machines (small) and one vehicle-mounted fogging machine (large) — to “make every ward of the city dengue-free”.

With fresh additions, the MC now has 16 fogging machines – 14 small and two large. However, residents said the civic body’s intervention came “too late” as the disease continues to spread its tentacles in almost every locality.

Bharat Hiteshi, president, Residents Welfare Association, Sector 10, said, “If timely measures had been taken by the all departments concerned, the situation may not have gone out of control.”

Mayor Kulbhushan Goyal said dengue cases had been rising at an alarming rate in the city, so they decided to procure new fogging machines to curb the spread of the disease. He said they had been coordinating with the Health Department over the prevailing dengue situation in the city.

“Hopefully, dengue numbers will drop next week,” he said. MC Commissioner Dharamvir Singh said new machines would allow us to ensure timely fogging in every ward that falls in the jurisdiction of the civic body. He urged citizens to be fully alert and take preventive measures at personal level.

15 more taken ill

A total of 15 fresh cases of dengue were reported on Wednesday, taking the overall tally to 366 in the district. The official dengue death toll is still zero.

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