BHUBANESWAR: After detection of 51 dengue cases from different parts of the city, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Sunday intensified its awareness drive and other exercises through Rapid Response Team (RRT) to fight the vector-borne disease.
A mass awareness drive was carried out by BMC teams in the affected areas including Niladri Vigar and Sailashree Vihar on the day. An RRT team comprising doctors and BMC staff also visited different pockets of Wards 7 and 14 in the North zone for doorstep counselling of people having dengue symptoms. They requested persons suffering from fever to get an Elisa test done at government facilities free of cost.
At government level, Elisa testing facility is available at Capital Hospital and Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) for free, informed Municipal Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Singh, while urging people to contact health workers or BMC staff in their wards for confirmatory tests.
Apart from sensitisation, the BMC engaged workers for dengue source reduction measures. Divided in small groups, they checked areas for stagnant water sources like tyres, cups, vessels for cow feeding, flower pots, broken pots, used green coconuts, use and throw glasses and cups.
They destroyed over 800 such sources and the larva was found in many of them, said BMC city health officer Basant Mishra. He said fogging is continuing in different parts of the city along with anti-larva spray. Paracetamol tablets and ORS packets are being provided by health workers to the people with fever.