Urban News

The Pioneer  21.09.2010

PNS | RANCHI

A day after Health Secretary DK Tiwari instructed the concerned officials and Ranchi Municipal Corporation to carryout fogging in the Capital city, Chief Director of Health Service Anjali Das claimed that the exercise would not help tackling the cases of the dengue, coming in unprecedented numbers in recent past.

“Fogging won’t help. There is no benefit of fogging as Ranchi has large accumulation of water in drains, potholes and small pits. These are the places where mosquito breeding takes place on mass level,” said Das. She rather suggested abate spray to deal with the menace and also pouring kerosene or diesel over accumulated water to prevent the female Aedes mosquito from breeding.

The senior health official expressed her opinion in the backdrop of the instruction in which the Health Secretary had directed the Ranchi Deputy Commissioner and Urban Development department officials to carry out fogging and assured The Pioneer that Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) had enough resource to deal with the situation. “There is no dearth of facilities in RIMS. We have enough bed in the hospital and more beds would be added if need arises,” she added. As of now, eight people suffering from dengue are admitted in RIMS.

In the meanwhile, most number of cases in Jharkhand is coming from Jamshedpur. The Steel City has reported seven patients suffering from the disease. “The city has several posh areas. People keep flower pots and small garden in their houses which inbreed mosquitoes. We have formulated groups that will visit about 23,000 houses door-to-door and make the residents aware about the disease,” said Das.

Besides, some confirmed cases have also been reported from Deograh, Khunti and Ramgrah. Senior doctors of RIMS said that as the disease was not infectious and can only be spread by vector agents such as mosquito thus the city had no immediate threat. However, the hospital is taking preventive care and the affected persons are being kept under mosquito net in the isolated wards meant especially for them. Doctors also suggest that almost all the cases are ‘imported’ from outside the State.

“We are also making people aware about symptoms of dengue fever as it is very similar to normal fever,” said a senior official of Health Department.

The Pioneer  21.09.2010

PNS | CUTTACK

As cholera is threatening to take epidemic form spreading its fangs to different districts in the State, the city civic body here has geared up to meet the challenges.

The Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) has taken a slue of steps to check the spread of the disease in the city, informed the city Mayor SK Ghosh on Monday. "As part of this drive, we have taken measures to disinfect the drinking water sources in the city and issued advisories to all to drink pure and clean water," the Mayor said.

Similarly, the health officials of the civic body on the day raided hotels and roadside eateries at busy and crowded locations of the city including near High Court, city bus terminus at Badambadi and at railway station.

"Huge quantities of stale and rotten food items, including fruits were seized and destroyed from over 20 hotels and fruit vendors of these places on Monday," informed CMC Health Officer NC Raj.

The erring vendors and hoteliers have been warned of severe actions if they continue to deal with such nefarious activities, the health officer informed adding that at least four restaurants of Badambadi have been issued with notices.

Similarly, the district administration has also asked the city hospitals and nursing homes to report immediately if they come across any patient suffering from severe diarrhea or malaria.

The city is more vulnerable to the infectious diseases for its topographic features and floating population, said a doctor of SCB Medical College and Hospital here. He urged upon the people to avoid eating outside during these rainy days.