BHUBANESWAR: While Japanese Encephalitis (JE) stalking children in Malkangiri district on daily basis, the Health Department has issued an advisory to the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) to keep a close watch on pig population in the Capital City.
Principal Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Department Arti Ahuja, in a letter to the BMC, has pointed out the vulnerability of human beings in co-habitation with pigs to the vector-borne disease.The department has directed the civic body to carry out intensive fogging to contain mosquitoes in the slum pockets.
“At least two rounds of fogging should be done in slums and other areas where pigs are reared. Water bodies and muddy areas are to be identified and bio-larvicide should be applied to disinfect these,” the advisory stated. This apart, the directives also asked to carry out bush cutting on regular intervals in swamps.
The directive put the civic authority on its toes initially with Bhubaneswar North MLA Priyadarshi Mishra and Mayor AN Jena accompanied by City Health officials visiting some areas of Salia Sahi and educating the residents about the disease. But the drive got subdued within a week’s time.
There has been little improvement on the ground and the households which domesticated pigs continue to do so.
Local Corporator Samir Pradhan said unless the inhabitants are aware of the fatalities due to JE and agents causing the deadly disease, they would continue to rear pigs.
“The residents rear pigs as livestock and hence, they would not give it up so easily. A conscious effort should be carried out by roping in NGOs working in the sector to curb the menace,” he added.
On the other hand, a Corporator of another Ward located close to the slum said the pigs which used to move around in his Ward were shifted to Salia Sahi.
“The owners of these pigs, originally from Salia Sahi, had migrated towards the main road, but we have managed to push them back into the slum,” he said to this paper.