A corporation worker carries out the special fogging drive in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Sept. 17: The civic body will intensify mosquito menace in the city by intensifying its fogging drives.

The Cuttack Municipal Corporation will continue the drives for over a month starting from tonight. Three medical camps will be launched for early treatment and screening of people suffering from fever. The drive assumes significance keeping in view the inflow of devotees from other parts of the state during Dussehra starting from September 30.

“The state government has asked the civic body to check breeding sites of mosquitoes as part of the steps to control the spread of vector-borne diseases, including dengue, after a high-level meeting held yesterday,” said Ranjan Biswal, chairperson of the civic body’s standing committee on public health.

The fogging drives will begin in localities near the SCB hospital, where over 130 dengue patients from various parts of the state are admitted. The drives will concentrate on localities, including Mangalabag, Ranihat, Thoria Sahi and in and around the Bose campus. The sanitary employees will also launch bush-cutting in these areas.

“We have planned to cover all the 54 wards in a phased manner in starting from the next week onwards, while all the localities around the SCB hospital would be covered in the first phase,” Biswal said.

At present, the civic body has over 50 fogging machines with nearly 40 in working condition. An official said process of repairing of the defunct machines would be over by this week. This year, there is a threat regarding the rise in mosquito population due to rain and humid climatic condition.An SCB official said only 40 cases of dengue had been reported from Cuttack district this year so far against nearly 1,100 cases that were reported from the city alone last year.The drop in dengue cases is mainly attributed to the pre-monsoon sanitation and awareness drives that were launched jointly by the district administration and the corporation.

A district administration official said the civic body was asked to carry out special sanitation measures, including spraying of larvicide oil.