Govt offices, depots teeming with larvae

Years of bad hygiene practices blamed.

LAHORE: The offices and warehouses of several government departments are rich mosquito-breeding sites because of years of bad hygiene practices.

Officials of the Environment Protection Department found high volumes of mosquito larvae on Saturday in godowns of the Water and Sanitation Agency, the Water and Power Development Authority, and the Agriculture, Irrigation and Health departments, said Younas Zahid, the deputy district officer (environment).

EPD officials also inspected several scrap yards that were infested with adult mosquitoes and larvae, he said. “Unclean conditions at government offices and godowns also lead to a rise in mosquitoes,” said Zahid.

He said that workers in these departments had begged for EPD officials to inspect the offices and godowns “They were very thankful to us, saying their offices had not been cleaned for years,” he said.

He said that bottles of alcohol or fake medicines seized from hospitals and restaurants by food and health inspectors had been dumped in an open site near Town Hall.

EPD inspector Javed Ali said that the contents of the bottles, scrap and other garbage, added with rainwater, created an ideal site for mosquitoes to breed. “It took two days to clear the site of about half a kanal,” he said.

Ali said that Communications and Works Department offices under Sherpao Bridge were also littered with dumped scrap, tyres and equipment, which was found full of stagnant water.

Crates and empty containers dumped by Irrigation and Agriculture department officials outside their offices in Shahdara also served as mosquito breeding sites, he said. “We inspected and cleared dumped scrap outside the offices of most departments last week,” Ali said.

An EPD field officer said that several scrap yards were visited every day. “Iron scrap, used washing machines and fridges left in open spaces or on the roof make perfect breeding sites,” he said. “About four to five sites are inspected daily, mainly in Gulberg.”

Zahid said that chemical, soap and ice cream company godowns were also being inspected. One ice cream company warehouse on Multan Road was closed on Saturday because it was full of mosquitoes.

However, he estimated that only about 20 per cent of breeding sites were on public property, “We can not enter people’s houses or handpick and clean streets and roads,” he said. “If we are doing our bit, the people need to do theirs,” he said.

EPD inspector Yasir Gul, who accompanied Sri Lankan and Indonesian experts that advised them on dengue prevention, said the foreign experts had emphasised measures that increased community participation.

“They emphasise community participation through brochures and public health messages on TV. They also advise hunting down breeding sites, which we did.”  About 3,000 tyre shops have been issued notices for not storing tyres in the proper manner, Zahid said. Other shops and godowns have been sealed because they were judged to be an urgent health hazard.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2011.