BENGALURU: With the city recording 172 dengue cases between May 1 and 13, the BBMP has swung into action to contain the spread of the disease.
Suralkar Vikas Kishore, BBMP special commissioner (health), on Thursday attributed the spurt in dengue cases to the recent rain in the city.
Launching an awareness jatha at Ramaswamy Palya in Bengaluru’s East Zone as part of National Dengue Day, he said precautionary measures have been taken to contain the spread of the disease. Fogging is on in all wards of the Palike. The jatha is being organised to raise awareness on the vector-borne disease.
“Whenever it rains, it leads to water stagnation. Because of this, breeding of mosquitoes increases. Steps such as fogging and spraying of larvicide have been taken to prevent breeding of mosquitoes in stagnated water,” he said.
He said four teams have been deployed in each ward. The teams will identify water-logged areas and take up fogging and spraying of larvicide.
Dengue virus, transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, breed in open water tanks, air coolers, flower pots, buckets and coconut shells, tyres. Awareness is being created against this among the people, Kishore said.
The special commissioner said teams comprising primary healthcare officers, ASHA workers, Namma Clinic doctors and medical officers and staff from primary health centres have been formed to prevent the disease from spreading in slums and high-risk areas.
Social media platforms and leaflets are also being used to spread awareness against dengue. Besides, announcements on loudspeakers are being made by those manning the BBMP garbage collection vehicles in all wards, he added.