Bhubaneswar: Government authorities, including health care providers and the civic body, have woken up from their slumber after dengue showed signs of spreading its tentacles in the city by claiming its first victim and affecting eight others here over the past fortnight.

The vector-borne disease claimed the season's first victim in Pratima Das, a resident of Chandrasekharpur. She was diagnosed with the disease on Wednesday night at a private hospital here.

Though the health and family welfare department had issued a guideline for prevention of the disease last month, the death of the woman and rising dengue positive cases in the city has set in a sense of panic among the residents. However, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has claimed that it is ready to tackle the situation.

"We have started a month-long sensitisation drive and making people aware on how to remain safe in such a situation. We took the help of various voluntary organisations in the drive. We are also adhering to the guidelines issued by the health department, but we will need people's support," said a civic body official.

According to the guidelines circulated by the health and family welfare department to the urban local bodies last month, the civic authorities have been entrusted to conduct awareness campaigns, intensify cleanliness activities and prevent mosquito breeding sites, provide safe drinking water, maintain, repair and disinfect tube wells and standposts.

The civic body has also been directed to form a taskforce, which will meet community representatives periodically to take stock of the situation at the ground level.

A major focus was put on removal of waste such as plastic bags, cups, containers, coconut shells, broken tins and unused tyres to prevent stagnation of water.

However, a reality check done by The Telegraph on Friday revealed a different story. Plastic bags and teacups were seen dumped in various parts of the city where rainwater gets stored and provides better breeding sites for aedes mosquitoes. Besides, no efforts are being made to remove the unused tyres dumped near garages and also the defunct fountains where water remains stagnant for days.

"Fountains near the Governor's house, AG Square and a few other places in the city remained defunct providing a better breeding ground for the mosquitoes. I can see plastic teacups dumped everywhere. Water gets stored in these cups and helps mosquitoes breed. The civic body should look into it if they want to save the citizens," said Srikant Meher, a resident of Sailashree Vihar.

Mayor Ananta Nayaran Jena, however, assured people that he would quick action to destroy breeding sites of mosquitoes. "We are in the process of forming a taskforce to monitor the situation regularly. The sanitation agencies have also been asked to ensure that water does not stagnate. We are also going to start a helpline. People can call us on the number if they find any violation by our officials," he said.