Hostile residents don’t allow us to check water containers: DBC workers
DHARMAPURI: To prevent dengue spread, the municipality has engaged over 80 Domestic Breeding Checkers (DBC) in prevention works. However, the DBC workers say they are turned away at the doorstep and prevented from performing their duty.
October and December, due to the changing climatic conditions caused by the North East monsoon, is when breeding of Aedes mosquito takes place. To tackle this the Dharmapuri Municipality appointed over 80 DBC workers who will visit door to door and ensure there is no water stagnation in or near the residential areas. However most people often turn them away and even do not allow them to undertake checks, stated officials.
Speaking to TNIE, Sanitary Inspector, Ramanacharan said, “One of the main causes of dengue outbreak is water stagnation in freshwater sources, usually within the municipality it is from plastic wastes, old tires, even refrigerators or even tanks. So we appoint Daily Breeder Checkers to ensure that residents don’t inadvertently create a hot spot for ‘Aedes’ mosquitoes. However they are most often turned away at the doors and not allowed to perform their duties. Hence we urge residents to permit our workers to ensure that your homes and families are safe.”
A 31 year old DBC worker told TNIE, “ It is hard sometimes, as many people treat us with hostility. In most cases we just walk away, because there is nothing else we can do. Some people allow us to enter their homes after we explain our role and our purpose, even then we are not allowed inside their homes. We check the surrounding and terrace of the residents and leave.”
Another DBC worker said, “ For the past three years we have been conducting this work very effectively, we also look into all fever cases and report the data to the Municipality. Following this immediate fogging and clean up is conducted. We hope people do not treat us with hostility and allow us to do our jobs. Our work only takes a few minutes, Mostly we check for mosquito larvae in drums, tanks and behind fridges”, she said.