The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has issued challans to four hospitals, including AIIMS and Safdarjung, various government offices and a school here after dengue mosquitoes were found breeding on their premises.
"We have issued challans to four hospitals, namely, AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, RML Hospital and Lady Hardinge Hospital after their premises were found to be breeding ground for mosquitoes," a senior NDMC official said.
The Ministries of Finance and Home Affairs, Bihar Bhawan, Sikkim Bhawan and Uttarakhand Bhawan have been issued challans by the council for mosquitogenic conditions on their premises.
The council staff has also detected heavy mosquito- breeding conditions in five embassies, namely, Ghana, Ethiopia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Czech Republic, but no challans have been issued to them.
"We do not have the authority to conduct any check in the embassy premises. After obtaining permission from these five embassies we had sent our inspection team to test suspected mosquito breeding on their campuses but the protocol doesn't permit us to issue any challan or notice to them," he added.
The other three institutions which have been issued challans are Mount Caramel School, the National Building Construction Corporation Limited and India Islamic Cultural Centre.
The action comes in wake of the rising number of cases from the vector-borne disease which shot to an alarming 277 till August 14, with over 220 of them being reported in the first two weeks of August. Two deaths have been reported due to this disease this year.
The city has recorded 251 cases more this year as compared to what was recorded last year by this time.
"We have issued a total of 115 challans this season for mosquito breeding inside institutions and households and served 2,700 notices.
"During the inspection, if the premises are tested positive for mosquito breeding, they are issued notices. But if no improvement is found in the hygiene conditions during the next inspection, the defaulters are issued challans," the official said.
Last week, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) had also issued 80 challans to government and educational institutions in the city, including JNU, DDA, DTC and PWD, for breeding of mosquitoes in their premises.
Dengue, a vector-borne disease, is transmitted by several species of mosquito within the genus Aedes. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles.
Doctors say treatment is symptomatic with no specific cure, so if patients use pain medicines indiscriminately there is a risk of becoming resistant to these.
