Keep premises clean, Corporation urges colleges

The victim, an engineering student from Andhra Pradesh and a student of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M), died while undergoing treatment for the disease on Friday.

Stating that they had met the registrar and spoke to the management of the institute with regard to cleaning up works on the campus a month ago, Dr Senthil Nathan, City Health Officer, said, “We are keeping a tab on the dengue cases in the city.

Earlier, we had informed the officials at the institute to keep their premises, including the hostels, clean for which they hired a private contractor. However, the cleaning works of roads alone have been completed.” “It is essential to maintain a hygienic environment in and around one’s home, especially when the rains to lash the state periodically. We have been creating proper awareness among public on the need to check for fever cases in hospitals besides stressing the importance of sanitation.

Until two months ago, people were in panic as the dengue cases were high in the state. Now the panic has come back after the IIT-M student’s death,” said a health official from the state.

While the city has seen around 131 positive cases of the disease since January, the state has seen over 6000.

“We have been continuing our campaigns and field work. School and college campuses too must ensure that their premises are kept clean. They have to hire private contractors if the need arises and prevent stagnant water around their premises. We have even showed the IIT officials where the problem lies. We cannot pool our people there as it is a massive exercise, which would then require all our employees there,” added Dr Nathan.

“We issued them a notice after the boy’s death and they have assured us that they are taking the necessary measures to keep the campus clean,” he added.