BENGALURU: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has now sought the help of the Medical Education Department to help increase awareness of dengue.
According to BBMP records, the city has already reported 729 cases this year, which is a 26 per cent increase from last year. “To create more awareness, the help of nursing students has been sought. 2,000 nursing students to go door-to-door to check for stagnant water, which acts as a breeding ground for mosquitoes, is what the BBMP aims for this year,” said chief health officer of Public Health Manoranjan Hegde.
The letter was written three days ago and they are yet to receive a response from the department. This is the first time that additional help of such magnitude has been sought for.
Hegde said that time was ticking as monsoon has picked up and the cases have also increased. He said fogging areas alone will not help.
He said there was a need to ensure that there was no stagnant water. The BBMP staffers along with helpers and Asha workers are from going door to door creating awareness and checking their water storage spaces like overhead tanks and unused containers.
The BBMP has also gone a step ahead and is checking kitchens of people, residing in economically weaker sections and low lying areas.
The health workers are checking dirty utensils where water stagnates and mosquitoes breed.
The BBMP commissioner also held a meeting recently to address this and issued directions to all officials to ensure that there was no stagnant water.
This also includes dug-up roadsides for civil works.
The BBMP has a strength of 600 people in 135 wards.
Of the total wards, 63 are being looked after by 500 Health and Family Welfare Department officials. The BBMP has asked for 2,000 nursing students to reach out to locals, especially women and children at homes.