Dwarka: With the ongoing rainy season and accumulation of water at various places, the subject of mosquito breeding is an active concern for residents in Dwarka. People demand the spray of medicine, fogging, and checking of mosquito breeding by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) in parks to prevent the spread of vector-borne diseases.
The residents say that though the societies are being checked by the corporation and regular spraying is being ensured, the parks near the societies are often left unnoticed. For the park, they want a routine check of the water accumulation and the spray of medicine as well so that the mosquitoes breeding could not take place.
RWAs and management of different societies highlighted that the dustbins, bottles, and glasses or other such things that were thrown by the people in the parks are potential places of water accumulation and mosquito breeding so they must be cleared in a routine way by the concerned authorities.
Read | Monsoon season and viral fever come hand in hand
President of Ganpati Apartments in Sector 9, KS Bhati said, “In the morning and evening, people face the problem of mosquito bites in the parks. It can cause Dengue, Malaria and Chikungunia. Corporations must look at the subject as the parks are the potential threat for such diseases because no one takes it seriously.”
In Dwarka, there are about 500 parks in which the parks up to three-acre area are under SDMC and the others are under Delhi Development Authority (DDA). Most of the parks have dustbins where the rainwater can accumulate. Also, the parks have been in use by the hooligans for open consumption of liquor who throw the bottles, glasses etc in the open where water can accumulate.
Moreover, used poly-bags or any other such things which could hold water is there in the parks. People said that civic bodies should ensure that such things are cleared and there is no water accumulation.
President of Dwarka Forum, Sushil Kumar said, “Flu is there in the community across Delhi. So people affected are worried about Dengue and other vector-borne diseases. Also, you can look at the condition of water stagnation in the parks how poor it is. So civic bodies must look into the matter.”
Experts say that a mosquito becomes an adult from an egg in a minimum of one week. So in the rainy season, if the water stagnation is there then the parks could be more vulnerable than the residential areas for vector-borne disease. According to SDMC, till now the cases of Dengue and Chikungunia are lesser than in the same period last year, though there is a rise in the cases of Malaria which is a vector-borne disease.
With rain crossing all records in Delhi this year, poor drainage system and lack of monitoring, parks could be potential hotspots for the vector-borne disease if not taken care of in time.