Bhubaneswar, July 23: The civic body here will deploy extra manpower to ensure that water stagnation is not allowed on the premises of various factories at the Mancheswar and Rasulgarh industrial estates.

This move was prompted after a team of the National Vector-Borne Disease Control Programme yesterday discovered breeding sites of dengue-virus carrying Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes inside abandoned tyres and containers at a truck depot near Jagatpur Industrial Estate in Cuttack. The outbreak of dengue has reached menacing proportions in the Jagatpur with 277 cases being detected so far.

"Dengue outbreak is under control in Bhubaneswar. However, we don't want to take any risk and want to remain alert so that the disease does not start spreading. As part of the dengue preventive measures, we have decided to secure our industrial areas first," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

So far, six dengue patients have been found in Bhubaneswar this monsoon. All of them are undergoing treatment at Capital Hospital.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation will also carry out an eviction drive to remove the dens of rag pickers in association with the Bhubaneswar Development Authority. There are many rag pickers in Rasulgarh and Mancheswar areas and the area is a perfect breeding ground for the dengue-causing Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes.

The civic body has also divided the Mancheswar-Rasulgarh industrial area into four parts and deployed one sanitary, health and cleaning official in each of the areas. The field teams will be in charge of awareness and cleaning activities and will report the dengue situation every day directly to the municipal commissioner. Taking a lesson from Cuttack, the corporation has also roped in the Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco), which is the administrative authority of the industrial estates, to carry out cleaning and dengue awareness activities in the areas.

A WhatsApp group has also been created with members, such as deputy commissioner, sanitary officers, local health officials and private cleaning staff. The group will act as a platform to get updates on the day-to-day activities of the civic body officials.