Health officials share dengue prevention tips, but RWAs dissatisfied

LUCKNOW: No fever medication should be taken without getting tested, as it was a common symptom of dengue, malaria and chikungunya, said city health officer Dr. P.K Srivastava, at a meeting held by the Chief Medical Officer’s office on Friday for RWA (Residents Welfare Association) presidents and office-bearers, to spread awareness about preventive measures against dengue and similar diseases .
The meeting, conducted under the aegis of the health department, under the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, was attended by roughly 40 people, some of whom returned with the opinion that the meeting was a moot exercise. They said much of what was being instructed was largely being followed in apartments already. While a few RWAs were not represented at the meeting as the announcement was made at a short notice, others felt that the health department and Lucknow Municipal Corporation were not doing enough on their part to plug the wave of positive cases of vector-borne diseases.
Additional municipal commissioner Lalit Kumar assured the attendees that diseases such as dengue, malaria and chikungunya could be avoided by taking simple yet diligent cautionary measures, while district malaria officer Ritu Srivastava advised consuming liquids to avoid dehydration. “Eat a balanced and nutritious diet and try to plant mosquito repelling plants like tulsi, marigold, rosemary, lemongrass, garlic etc. in your houses,” said Srivastava.
Nodal officer of the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme Dr. Masoor Ali Siddiqui warned the participants to keep an eye on every corner of their houses to ensure that no mosquitoes could breed and urged them to encourage those living in the complexes to do the same. “Dengue mosquito can breed even in one spoon of clean water,” he warned, adding “Mosquitoes can breed in coolers, flower pot plates, bird baths, broken utensils, junk etc. Therefore, make people aware in society and nearby areas that they should not leave any scope for mosquito breeding in their houses .”
However, RWA office-bearers said that this awareness meeting would ultimately serve no purpose. “We are already doing fogging and ensuring proper cleaning of the common areas in the complex,” said Vivek Sharma of Srishti Apartments in Jankipuram. “Rather, the Nagar Nigam does not carry out proper larva sprinkling in our areas and health department also is not doing enough.”
Elaborating on the it , Uma Shankar Dubey, secretary of RWA in Gomti Nagar Extension Mahasamiti said, “Even when they do send someone for fogging, it is one guy on a bike and the sprinkling solution is over by the time he takes one round of the building.” Dubey was of the opinion that rather than holding a separate meeting with RWAs from different apartments of the city, the health department and LMC should improve their own efforts in dengue prevention in the city.
Max cases in Chandernagar,Aliganj and Indiranagar
Over the past two weeks, data from the CMO’s office has revealed that the highest number of dengue positive patients are from Chandernagar, Aliganj and Indiranagar, each having recorded 94, 88 and 82 cases of dengue in the past fortnight. Apart from the aforementioned localities, the regularly featured parts of Lucknow, on the CMO’s list are as follows – Naubasta Kala Road (50), Red Cross (43), Tudiyaganj (49), Silver Jubilee (81), Aishbagh (44), Bakshi ka Talab (31), Chinhat (27), Sarojini Nagar (34) and Gosaiganj(17)