New Delhi, Oct 11 : The deadly aedes aegypti mosquito has begun knocking at the doors of the Prime Minister's official residence at 7, Race Course Road.
When New Delhi Municipal Council's breeding inspectors went to the PM's residence, they were startled to find widespread breeding of the deadly mosquito on the premises, the tabloid Mail Today reported.
The caretaker of the Prime Minister's house has been served a notice by the inspectors of the civic body.
The finding came on Wednesday, the very day that the Capital saw this season's highest single-day count of dengue cases, no less than 35 - taking the number of cases to 298.
MCD has issued 72,919 legal notices and 4,779 challans for prosecution so far. The NCR areas fared no better.
There were 111 dengue cases in Gurgaon till Tuesday, 55 in Ghaziabad and 47 in Noida and Greater Noida. The result is a dengue panic across the cities.
Said an NDMC official who did not want to be named, 'Our team found heavy dengue breeding at the Prime Minister's residence.
The area near the helipad was studded with dengue mosquito larvae. Following the official procedure, we have issued a notice to the caretaker of the residence.' City hospitals have become a den for the aedis aegypti.
NDMC health inspectors have also found dengue larvae at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Safdarjung Hospital.NDMC has issued notices to both hospitals.
In fact, over a dozen AIIMS employees are down with dengue. Other hospitals that are losing the fight with the dengue mosquito are Lady Hardinge Medical College and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.
'NDMC has issued 300 challans and 2,500 notices to various persons for encouraging breeding of dengue larvae,' said Dr R N Singh, chief medical officer of NDMC.
Connaught Place, once the Capital's glitzy shopping centre, has turned into a heavy breeding ground for the mosquitoes because of the renovation work in process that has left large parts water-logged.
Delhi's health and family welfare minister A.K. Walia has directed hospitals to send detailed reports on patients. 'These reports must indicate the type of tests carried out on the patients.
'We are taking all the precautionary measures and have purchased fogging machines.
We have roped in 100 extra staff members to conduct fogging drives. We are trying to identify areas hard hit by dengue.
We have also formed special teams to find out the vulnerable areas and spread awareness,' said Praveen Negi, chief medical officer of Gurgaon.
'The person in charge of the biggest Army canteen in Sena Bhavan has been issued a challan for heavy breeding of dengue larvae inside,' said the area inspector.
'There is a need of sensitisation of public. The public needs to be more responsible for preventing dengue.
People don't keep their homes clean and ignore the collection of water. If they become responsible, the authorities will be able to work much better with their help,' he said.
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