IEP Chandigarh/SAS Nagar, August 4
In order to prevent the spread of deadly vector-borne disease, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led from the front to launch the statewide Dengue Prevention Education and Awareness Campaign ‘Har Shukarvaar- Dengue Te Vaar’ (Every Friday- Fight Against Dengue). Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh accompanied by Director Health Services, SDM Mohali and other District and Medical officials reached village Behlolpur in the SAS Nagar district to kick-start the campaign by visiting door-to-door to sensitise people by showing them the hotspots of Dengue larvae, besides, personally checking if there was the presence of any larvae in or outside of the premises. Apart from visiting various houses in the village, he also checked Village Park, Panchayat Ghar, School and Government Dispensary on the occasion. “During the visit, existence of dengue larvae was found in almost all the houses in the village, which could lead to the proliferation of mosquito-breeding,” he said, while urging people to spare some time on Friday to keep a check and drain water from all the breeding-grounds such as coolers, scrap material, flower pots, back trays of refrigerators, stored water, etc, where water stagnation could take place. Later, the Health Minister also released mosquito larvae-eating fish ‘Gambusia’ into the pond to curb the dengue menace. These fishes are known as human friends as they eat the larvae to stop breeding of mosquitos, he said. Pertinently, the ‘Gambusia’ fish was brought by the health teams to show it to the common public for awareness purposes. These fish are available with the health department and anyone can get them free of cost for putting in ponds, lakes, etc near their houses. Dr Balbir Singh, while addressing the villagers, expressed concern over the Dengue factories owned by the residents in their homes and other premises. Generally, we take things lightly but when it becomes a threat to life then we take precautions, he said, while exhorting residents to not to allow stagnation of water anywhere near their places. “We should observe Friday as a dry day, which means we have to drain out/flush out the stagnant water to stop the breeding of dengue larvae, which takes a week to mature into a mosquito,” he said. He exhorted the village health and sanitation committees, Panchayats and School Teachers to spread maximum awareness to save people from this deadly disease. He asked them to visit every household in their village and educate the residents of probable dengue factories they, inadvertently, have in their places. “We will reward and honour such crusaders, who will sensitise people about the harms of dengue larvae,” he said. Meanwhile, the Minister also inspected the water tanks of the School, Health and Wellness Center in the village and directed the concerned officials to take care of the stagnant water and leakage.
