Metro Colony now under surveillance, say SDMC officials

New Delhi: The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) quickly sprung into action after the first dengue death this year was reported in its jurisdiction, with the public health department putting the Sarita Vihar area on high alert.

Officials were fast to send teams to the Metro Colony area, where the deceased lived, to identify and track any other possible cases in the locality.

Currently, a detailed investigation has been launched in order to take control of the situation and secure other residents of the area, public health officials said, adding that their department had also been put on high alert across all zones.

According to SDMC officials, so far, no other cases have been reported from the Metro Colony but the Public Health Department has taken measures in and around the residence of the deceased person.

As of now, the department has checked 425 houses in the vicinity for mosquito breeding sites, out of which 12 were recognised as breeding sites.

In addition, over 300 houses were sprayed and fogged with insecticide to stop mosquito breeding. Officials said that 10 houses were issued legal notices and three were issued challans for the same.

One senior official at the SDMC's Public Health Department told Millennium Post, "We are working hard to ensure that no more casualties take place and have started spreading awareness on the matter."

Since the death was reported in late September, staffers of the civic body have kept a strict eye on the locality in the past few days.

They have also been instructed that any new development in the area should be closely followed and reported to the relevant authorities.

The entire department is currently on high alert due to the unusually delayed and extended monsoon this year and has put down intensive control measures to contain vector-borne diseases — which are this year increasingly being reported well into October.

The department has visited over 72 lakh houses for inspection and 57,547 out of those were found positive for breeding in the South Delhi area. Over 10 lakh houses have been fogged and sprayed with insecticides across the city by all three municipal corporations, officials added.