ROURKELA: Amid a rise in dengue cases, the Sundargarh district administration and Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) seem to have woken up to launch awareness programmes and preventive measures. Till Wednesday evening the district reported 63 dengue-positive cases of which Rourkela city comprising the RMC limits and the Rourkela Industrial Township (RIT) of the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) together account for 52 cases. As of now, the district has 11 active dengue cases including eight from Rourkela.
Sources in the Health & Family Welfare (H&FW) department said the H Block of Sector-6 and A Block of Sector-20 under the RIT of RSP continue to be hotspots with 42 positive cases. The RMC limits have reported eight and the Railway Colony of the South Eastern Railway (SER) accounts for two cases, while the rest of Sundargarh district has 11 cases.
Rourkela ADM and RMC commissioner Subhankar Mohapatra on Wednesday convened a coordination meeting for containment of the further spread of dengue. Accordingly, it was decided to observe every Thursday as ‘dry day’ with an appeal to the people not to allow the accumulation of water and to keep their surroundings clean.
The ADM instructed for bush cutting, application of mosquito larvicide oil in drains, elimination of mosquito breeding points and fogging exercise. He directed health workers to visit houses for awareness and monitor the health condition of patients with dengue symptoms. Thrust was also laid to intensify dengue awareness through schools and among the general public.
RMC sources attributed the growing number of dengue cases at Rourkela including the captive township of RSP to the complex structure of the health administration, the ineffectiveness of the city health officer and the additional district urban public health officer (ADUPHO), Rourkela and the lack of coordination with the field functionaries.
Sundargarh chief district medical and public health officer (CDM&PHO) Dr SK Mishra said much in advance the district health machinery had been asked to stay vigilant for the prevention and detection of dengue cases, while the ADUPHO, Rourkela has been specifically assigned the task of prevention and control of dengue as the nodal officer.
The CDM&PHO claimed hot spot areas are getting identified, chemicals and equipment for fogging operations supplied to high-risk rural areas under the Community Health Centres and funds released to all Urban Local Bodies for necessary awareness. He said the Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH), Ispat General Hospital (IGH) of RSP and Sundargarh District Headquarter Hospital (SDHH) are working as sentinel sites for routine dengue tests.