Urban News

Hindustan Times  02.11.2010

Neighbouring states like Punjab and Haryana are responsible for rising dengue cases in the city as they have "little or no initiative" to control mosquito breeding, a senior MCD official said. Dengue cases originate in neighbouring states and spread to the city.Due to unchecked mosquito breeding there, people get affected and come to Delhi for treatment leading to transmission of the disease, V K Monga, MCD's Health Committee Chairman said.

"The rampant anti-mosquito breeding drive that is carried out here is not prevalent in the NCR region.As such mosquito breeding there goes unchecked and when people from those areas travel to Delhi, transmission of the disease begins," he said. Mongia said Najafgarh, which is close to Gurgaon, reports lot of dengue cases due to this factor.

Moreover, "dengue patients coming from Gurgaon for treatment in Apollo Hospital or those coming from Ghaziabad for treatment in GTB Hospital show their relative's address in Delhi as their own. Ultimately the count of Delhi cases rise," he said.

Till date, the national capital has reported 5,553 dengue cases. "The domestic breeding checker (DBC) culture is there only in one or two places in the world and in India it is only found in Delhi.

Countries like Thailand and Malaysia who report a huge number of dengue cases too do not have DBC facility in place. "In India, especially in Delhi, these DBC workers go from door-to-door every 15 days to check mosquito breeding in houses. However, this practice is not prevalent in neighbouring states," he said.