Waterbodies in Cuttack in need of an urgent cleansing drive to prevent further spread of mosquito-borne diseases. Telegraph pictures

Cuttack, Aug. 23: The Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) has decided to chalk out a long-term plan to control mosquito menace in the wake of spurt in dengue cases.

Measures would be taken to control the menace by identifying mosquito-breeding sites in the city.

“There are a number of mosquito-breeding sites in different parts of the city, including water reservoirs and ponds under the corporation limits, which will be thoroughly cleaned and subsequently disinfected,” said city health officer S. Gadanayak.

Gadanayak said that following the outbreak of dengue, a massive cleanliness drive had been launched in the city. Besides trimming of bushes, emphasis was also being given on cleanliness at the community level. Moreover, a meeting was held yesterday evening between officials of the district administration and the CMC to review and chalk out further strategies to deal with the dengue situation. “We have reviewed the situation and taken feedback from a number of people working at the grassroots level to tackle the situation. Moreover, the ongoing cleanliness drive will be intensified in the city,” said CMC Commissioner R.N. Nanda.

A directive would be issued to all corporate houses, educational institutions and government offices to carry out similar sanitation drives in their respective institutions.

CMC officials said Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited had been asked to procure machines that could be used to clean and disinfect waterbodies, including ponds, which were the breeding grounds of mosquitoes.

All these are long-term proposals and keeping in view the present situation, all efforts would be concentrated on all-round sanitation measures. “The dengue situation is not alarming in Orissa as compared to other parts of the country. We have decided to intensify the ongoing cleanliness operation in different parts of the city. Various NGOs and education institutions will be involved in the drive,” said collector Girish S.N. Besides, Ramky Enviro Engineers has been asked to deploy machines to disinfect ponds and other water bodies to control mosquito breeding. Similarly, discussions would be held with the state government regarding the supply of mosquito oil keeping in view the geographical conditions of Cuttack, which is prone to waterlogging, the collector added.

“We have informed higher officials regarding the requirement of high-end machines and within a couple of days, we hope to notify CMC about the availability of such machines,” said Rajesh Rai, assistant project head, Ramky.

Dengue cases continue to pour in at SCB Medical College and Hospital that shares 90 per cent of the dengue patient load in the state.

So far, around 60 dengue positive cases from other parts of the district and 40 cases have been detected in Cuttack city. At present, over 100 dengue patients including 67 in the dengue ward were undergoing treatment at the medicine ward at SCB Medical College and Hospital.

Adequate measures for all-around sanitation measures would also be soon intensified at SCB, district administration officials said.