BHUBANESWAR: Dengue in the State Capital has breached the 300 cases mark and taken 50 localities under its grip with the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) struggling to contain its spread.
According to the statistics of BMC, the number of dengue cases which was 51 on July 11 has increased to 330 by Saturday, a six-fold rise in the last 14 days.
As many as 39 new dengue cases were reported from different parts of the city in the last 24 hours as the total infection count on Friday was 291. What raises more concern is that new cases have started surfacing from different parts of the city in the middle of Covid-19 pandemic.
Sources in the BMC said that the number of areas from where dengue cases had been reported till July 15 was around 35. In the last nine days, the infection has spread to 15 more areas. These include Jayadev Vihar, Unit-IV, Salia Sahi, Excise Colony, RMRC, Mancheswar, Old Station Bazar, Madhusudan Nagar, Patia, Budha Nagar and Budheswari Colony.
While around 50 cases have been reported from Niladri Vihar and its nearby slums, close to 30 cases have been reported from Sailashree Vihar area. As of July 17, the two localities had 37 and 18 cases respectively.
An official from the civic body said that of the 1,029 breeding grounds they detected and destroyed during source reduction drive till Saturday, larvae were found in 451 breeding points in different parts of the city.
The existing drive to eliminate breeding sources and raise awareness has failed to yield desired results due to poor lifting of garbage and enforcement in residential areas as well as public places including offices and markets.
BMC officials informed that they have covered over 19,000 people in the awareness drive and had been taking anti-larval measures to contain the spread of the infection. IEC activities have also been intensified, while orders have also been issued to check buildings and other areas, they added.
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