Corpn conducts door-to-door inspection to prevent dengue

CHENNAI: Healthcare workers from the Greater Chennai Corporation are conducting door-to-door inspection and mosquito eradication activities to control dengue fever in the areas under its administration.

A total of 954 permanent mosquito control workers and 2,317 contract workers have been divided into 2,084 units to carry out mosquito control work in the areas that come under the GCC. A release from the city Corporation stated that 224 mosquito repellent sprayers, 120 power sprayers, 300 battery operated and hand-operated sprayers, while 229 fumigation machines, 8 small smog machines and 67 vehicles fitted with smog are being used for these activities.

Subsequently, 400 persons have been deployed in all the wards (two per ward) with mosquito sprayers to use them in storm water drains in municipal areas. These workers are covering a space of 1 km per day. For a total of 247 km, 128 personnel have been employed to spray the waterways with repellents.

Mosquito larvae are being destroyed by using the smog machines. Other extermination works were carried out with the use of fumigating machines.

In the field survey carried out in over 10.72 lakh houses by the workers, mosquito breeding places were found in 10,052 houses, and repellents were sprayed. Open wells, overhead storage tanks, construction sites and vacant lots are also inspected.

“Mosquito breeding is more than likely now. So, the public should remove unused tyres, coconut shells, broken jugs, broken cement tanks, etc from their homes and surroundings, to prevent the spread of dengue,” said a civic official. “They should remove stagnant water from flowerpots and under-slabs of mini-plants, etc once a week.”