Berhampur: With vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue spreading fear in Berhampur following the onset of monsoon, various measures adopted by the civic body to contain the spread of these diseases here have been mostly unsuccessful.
The city is witnessing a spurt in dengue cases while incidents of malaria and filariasis are close behind. The Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) is taking a series of steps including awareness measures to contain the mosquito menace in the city but has got little success.
Meanwhile, the BeMC has decided to control the mosquito population through fogging of the wards with the help of TIFA fogging machine. The sanitation department of the civic body has decided to complete the fogging of at least two wards daily so that it can cover all 42 wards by this month end. BeMC expects that this measure will help contain the mosquito menace to a great extent. BeMC had adopted similar measures last year.
However, the fogging machine failed to take rounds of all 42 wards. This frustrated the plans of the civic body to contain the mosquito population. The main reason behind this failure was the lack of an adequate number of fogging machines with the civic body. Reports said that the BeMC has a single TIFA fogging machine which is in rundown condition. The machine is fitted to a tractor and fogging is done in the wards by mixing mosquito oil with diesel which helps in controlling the mosquito population to a considerable extent. As per the rules, fogging has to be done before the start and after the end of the monsoon season.
However, BeMC authorities are not abiding by the rules. Two years back, the sanitation department of BeMC had purchased 40 hand fogging machines for the 40 wards in the city and the sub-inspectors and zamadars of each ward were given the charge. Fogging of the drains in all these wards was done under the direct supervision of these two officials. However, fogging was stopped completely after the machines developed technical snags. BeMC authorities also did not take any steps to repair the machines and funds worth several lakhs spent in purchasing the machines went down the drain. Now, with a single machine at its disposal, the BeMC authorities have failed to contain the mosquito population in the city. Notably, the civic body had 27 wards in past but the numbers rose to 37 wards during 2008 municipality elections. Later in 2013, the number increased to 40. The Berhampur Municipality was upgraded to a Municipal Corporation and the number of wards increased to 42 in the 2022 urban local body elections.
However, the BeMC authorities have failed to deliver a clean environment. The civic body is spending crores for the improvement of sanitation in the city but has failed to purchase additional fogging machines to contain the mosquito menace. Furthermore, the concerned fogging machine was in use during the period of Berhampur Municipality in 1990. Instead of buying a new machine, BeMC is still using the same old ramshackle fogging machine. When contacted, BeMC Deputy Commissioner Ashirbad Parida said a decision has been taken to purchase six hand fogging machines and one TIFA fogging machine once the proposal gets a nod at the council meeting of the BeMC.
PNN