Civic bodies to ask school students to wear full-sleeves to tackle dengue in National Capital

The three municipal corporations in the national Capital, North, South and East, are all set to issue an advisory against dengue and other vector-borne diseases in all schools from Monday asking students to wear full-sleeved clothes. The school authorities will have to make sure and announce an area of 200-metre radius around the premises mosquito-free. In case of breeding detected in the said area, the authorities will be challaned.

The South civic body has also roped in government and private schools to follow the advisory and the 'dengue homework card' recently launched by it. Until now, only MCD schools were covered under the programme.

"We will be issuing the advisory as the week starts asking students to wear long/full-sleeved clothes during school hours as well as at home. Also, schools, including both government and private/aided, have to make sure there is no breeding in the compound as well as in 200-metre area around the premises. If breeding is found, schools will have to bear a penalty for the same," said BK Hazarika, medical health officer (MHO), South Corporation.

Between January 1 and April 14, South Corporation has detected breeding in 2,600 locations and issued legal notices to 3,878 households/establishments. As many as 277 prosecutions were made during this period in which Rs 57, 300 were collected as the penalty amount.

The South civic body, which has been reporting the maximum number of cases for the past two years, has also started a'dengue homework card' --- a checklist of measures preventing dengue to be filled in by students during summer vacations --- to promote awareness on preventive measures.

"The awareness programme will cover over five-six lakh students. It will enroll all students of classes IV to IX. We have introduced it in all government and private schools this time to increase the scale of awareness. Our inspectors are regularly visiting the schools to check on breeding," he said.

For the last two years, South Corporation, which is better off with funds as well as the strength of employees, has been reporting cases from its over-crowded colonies including Shaheen Bagh, Jamia Nagar, Govindpuri, Abul Fazal Enclave, Sangam Vihar and Okhla.

A total of 12 cases of dengue have bee reported so far this year.

While usually the season for the vector-borne diseases begins from mid-July and lasts till November-end, but according to medical experts, dengue has already struck the city.

MOSQUITO MENACE

• Between January 1 and April 14, South Corporation has detected breeding in 2,600 locations and issued legal notices to 3,878 households/establishments. As many as 277 prosecutions were made