The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Anti-chikungunya drive kicks off

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Monday, Jun 25, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Anti-chikungunya drive kicks off

Staff Reporter

Campaign to control breeding of mosquitoes

CHENNAI: Officials in the city and its suburbs have adopted the old adage ‘prevention is better than cure’ as their motto to combat the chikungunya virus.

A massive campaign to control breeding of mosquitoes – the virus-carrying vector – was taken up over the weekend in the Chennai Corporation, Ambattur Municipality, Porur Town Panchayat and St. Thomas Mount Panchayat Union.

The Aedes mosquito that breeds in stagnant freshwater can carry chikungunya and dengue viruses. The chikungunya outbreak in Kerala and the approach of the North East monsoon has spurred the local government to launch the preventive measures.

“In Chennai, about 16,000 old tyres and 65 tonnes of waste including broken pots, plastic material and coconut shells were disposed of,” said Corporation Health Officer P. Kuganantham. When rainwater stagnates in these articles, they turn into ideal spots for mosquito breeding.

About 4.5 lakh houses of the 8.5 lakh houses in the city were covered during a door-to-door drive to identify ‘mosquitogenic spots’ this weekend. Fogging was done in areas with high mosquito and larval density. The combing operations will continue for a few more days till all houses are covered. Dr. Kuganantham said that no chikungunya cases have been detected in the city so far. He urged residents to dispose articles in which water could stagnate.

Street plays and awareness rallies marked the awareness campaign at Porur Town Panchayat. Director of Town Panchayats K. Gopal and Tiruvallur district collector Ranvir Prasad flagged off the campaign in Porur. People were given information on mosquito control through public address systems mounted on auto-rickshaws. Educational entertainment programmes would be conducted by members of the Arivoli troupe.

NCC cadets, NSS volunteers, self-help group members and health workers took out a procession campaigning for mosquito control in Ambattur Municipality.

More manpower

In the city’s southern suburbs, additional workers have been hired to augment the manpower required for the campaign. Village Sanitation Committees have been constituted in all the 25 village panchayats in St. Thomas Mount Panchayat Union, officials of the Health Department said. These committees could hire workers to carry out anti-larval operations and provide them wages of Rs. 85 a day. Each committee would get Rs. 10,000 to pay the workers’ wages and for other requirements.

Samples of publicity material and pamphlets have been dispatched to Block Development Offices so that all village panchayats could use correct information.

The State government has also given its consent to the Health Department to hire 60 additional workers, who would be deployed for anti-larval operations in the Town Panchayats. Municipalities, however, would have to mobilise men and material on their own.

In Tambaram, MLA S.R. Raja flagged off an awareness rally on Sunday. Women from self help group municipal workers distributed informative pamphlets. Doctors at Chromepet Government Hospital said they have not had any patients with chikungunya symptoms so far.

The hospital had adequate stock of medicines in case treatment is required, they said.

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